Mass Effect: Bermuda
by WackoRelyk
Summary: The Bermuda Triangle is a fairly mysterious place, and many anomalies occur in that region. No one knows about what happens when someone enters the Bermuda Triangle, but one man decides to answer that question. What he finds will ultimately change his life, forever. Self/OC insert. There are many changes to the plot of Mass Effect, as well as many OCs.
1. Chapter 1: Into The Unknown

A/N: The Mass Effect universe has always had me hooked, as well as fanfictions of the game. This is my first fanfiction, hopefully it doesn't crash and burn.

I'm going to be updating Chapter 1 through Chapter 7. These updates will include the following: detail, names, dialogue, length, and changes to the story in general. I also will be adding codexes in when needed.

Chapter 1:

Date: October 30th, 2015. 5:03 A.M.

Grief has many effects on the human mind, most people grieve after a death. For me, that was not the case, I wanted to discover more about Earth and its anomalies when death took the lives of two of my closest friends.

A few days ago, I sold my house, my car, and most of my belongings. I knew for a fact that I wouldn't be returning from my journey. I took a taxi from Castle Rock, Colorado to Denver International Airport, as I had no other way of transportation.

The ride to DIA took about an hour, and the cab fare cost me fifty dollars. I packed light for my trip to Miami, Florida. All I had on me was my ASUS ROG, a few bottles of water, clothes that would last me for about a day, and my Samsung Galaxy S4.

"You can get out now, I have other places to be," my cab driver spoke quickly and had an annoyed tone in his voice.

I got out of the cab, and my foot was almost run over by the taxi driver speeding away. "Asshole," I muttered under my breath, and proceeded to walk into Denver International Airport. I completely avoided going through to baggage checking. I already had my tickets, and was only carrying carry-on baggage.

I went straight to TSA, and had my backpack checked for any suspicious materials. I had no problems getting through security, as I never packed anything that would put others in harm.

I headed to Gate 14, Terminal B of DIA. I sat down in an empty seat, and checked over my boarding pass. It had my name in bolded letters, and my flight number on it. I had Business Class seats, as I didn't have enough money to pay for first class. I smiled as I stared at the picture of Miami, Florida on the bottom right side of the ticket.

Soon enough, the intercom lit up for the passengers to board the plane. "Business Class Passengers, Military personnel, and children under the age of four years old are now welcome to board the plane."

That was my cue, I stood up from my seat and headed to the desk where the flight attendants would take my ticket, and allow me to board the plane. I couldn't get the thoughts of the Bermuda Triangle out of my mind. As a child, the Bermuda Triangle had always fascinated me, since the location was shrouded in mystery.

"Sir, do you plan to board the plane today? Or are you planning on holding up the line?" an impatient voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

I looked at the flight attendant who I was about to hand my ticket to and shook my head, "I'm sorry, I have a lot on my mind right now. Here's my ticket."

"As we all do, sir, but none of us plan on holding up the line like you did," the flight attendant rolled her eyes. "have a nice flight."

I must have chose the wrong day to fly out to Miami, everyone is acting like the world hates them.

I walked down the long hallway, and boarded Flight 218 to Florida. I sat down in a seat next to a window as I began to review what I was about to do. I'm sure that I want to do this, even if I wasn't I have no choice. I have no home to return to if I survive, no life to return to either. This is for the greater good, and I will benefit from it.

I sat down in seat 18-F, I had the window seat so I wouldn't be disturbed by anyone, or so I thought. A woman and her kid sat down right next to me. The kid held an intense stare with me before turning to his mother. "Mommy, I want the window seat!"

The mother gave me an apologetic look, then looked down to her child. "I'm sorry, Johnny, you don't always get what you want."

The child started to cry because he didn't get his way. I had a gut feeling that he would continue this behavior if I didn't give my window seat to him. I got up out of my seat and shimmied past the child and his mother.

"Let the kid have the window seat, I'm fine being in the aisle seat." I honestly just wanted the kid to stop crying, it attracted too much attention from other passengers.

Just like that, the kid stopped crying, and smiled victoriously. He moved to the window seat, and his mother moved to the middle. "Thank you… I don't know what your name is, but thank you."

"My name is Kyle, and it's not a problem."

I sat down in the aisle seat, where I heard the plane's intercom go off. "All passengers, please turn off your electronic devices and pay attention to the safety protocols."

I sat through the safety learning process, the process was mandatory for all passengers. I lost count of how many times I had done it. After about five minutes of them repeating the same thing over and over again, we were prepared for take off.

The plane that I was on, I believe it was a Boeing 737, was taxied over towards the southern runway. The intercom came on again. "All passengers and flight attendants, please prepare for take off."

I heard the roar of the engines start to increase in volume as we approached the runway. I felt the plane turn to the right before the initial take off happened. The plane's engines started to whine, and I was pushed back into my seat.

I felt the familiar jolt of lifting off into the sky. One of the flight attendant's voices came over the intercom. "All passengers, you are now free to use your electronics. Floridan weather is 74℉, with a humidity of 64%, there is a high chance of mild thunderstorms, so expect some turbulence."

I pulled my laptop out of my carry-on backpack and brushed some dust off the top of it. The laptop was an older model, it could still play most games on lower settings, but it certainly wasn't the best. I didn't particularly like the weight of it or the size, but the laptop kept intact for two years.

I turned on my laptop, opened Origin (I didn't use Steam because it gave me too many problems with Mass Effect), and started a new playthrough of the original Mass Effect. I chose to play as a Femshep, because frankly, I like Jennifer Hale more than Mark Meer.

I arrived at the character creation screen, made a few changes to the default appearance, and went on my way to class selection. I chose Infiltrator. (it is my favorite class of all time, right above vanguard.)

I was at the ending of Noveria by the time my flight was over. I had always liked Noveria, due to its snowy backdrop, but my flight was over. It was time to prepare for the flight into the Bermuda Triangle.

I packed my laptop back up into my backpack, and took my carry-on baggage from the ceiling compartment. I got off of the plane as quick as possible, as I didn't want to spend a single minute inside Miami International Airport.

I walked to the rent-a-car after getting off of the plane, rented myself a BMW 5 Series, and started the long 60 kilometer (37 mile) to Dean International.

The thought of flying into the Bermuda Triangle was straight up suicidal, as so many disappearances had occurred there in the century. I always was intrigued by the Bermuda Triangle, and it's counterpart, the Devil's Sea.

I had always thought of myself as an experiment, an experiment to be viewed by the public. I had done things that haunted me, just so I could improve myself. Some people called me insane, though that was not the case, I was just willing to test myself to my limits.

I knew the risks of flying into the Bermuda Triangle, I was prepared for it. I had most of my valuable belongings with me, just in case my experiment didn't work. In the case that it didn't, I would go to Japan, then fly into the Devil's Sea.

About five days ago, I had sold my house for $250,000. I needed to sell it fast, so I cut the original price in half. The family that bought it seemed nice, a young couple and a newborn baby.

I reached Dean International around 11:50 A.M. The airport was a hive of activity, planes taking off, landing, and departing. The maintenance crew was preparing the Cessna for me as I drove up to it.

"Hey Dave, you have the Cessna 172 prepped for me, right?" I yelled towards where Dave was.

Dave looked at me while I was getting out of my car, "Yeah, she's prepped, Kyle."

"Good, I'd hate to drive all the way over here after a four hour flight for nothing." I commented.

Dave nodded his head as I walked up to him, "You better take good care of her. Where are you going again?"

I had to lie to this guy, not something I was particularly fond of. "I'm heading to the Bahamas, I have some friends that I'm meeting over there."

"I understand, have a good flight. If my plane isn't returned to me in one piece by the end of this week, I'll send someone after you, Kyle Terrah."

"You won't have to anything to worry about, Dave Hevin." Except it disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle. (Dave is the guy I rented the Cessna from. We had no prior history.)

I nodded to Dave and went on my merry way. I turned on my laptop, and noticed Mass Effect was still open. I didn't want to load up Mass Effect again, so I decided to leave it open in another tab.

I started up the livestream and named it, 'Kyle Terrah - Flying Into the Heart of Bermuda'. My view count rose very quickly to 423 people. I put my extra baggage into the back seat of the Cessna, and my laptop on the dashboard. I started up the engine, taxied to runway 27 L, and came to a complete stop as soon as I was on the runway.

I pushed the throttle up, and slowly lifted off into the air. The Cessna 172 Skyhawk wasn't the fastest plane that I could have rented, but I needed something that was cheap, and the Skyhawk was just that.

After three hours of piloting, I started to notice something truly extraordinary. The once blue sky that I was flying through had become a dark backdrop of storm clouds. Rain drops pelted off of the Cessna's windshield and I heard thunder echo around me. I could hear a faint voice through the thunder, which I assumed was my laptop. "Ten minutes until arrival of Subject-076."

Maroon bolts and flashes of lightning were emitted from the clouds around me. I saw a flash of blue which blinded me for half a second as I continued into the storms. There was a noticeable low-pitched hum as I progressed into the storm, and it coincided with a headache. "Prepare the artificial link."

As I progressed further into the storm, the headache got worse, and the hum got louder. Soon enough, my head was throbbing with pain. "The subject's transfer from BT-01 to TACM-020 is almost complete. We will start the procedure in five minutes."

The gauges on the dashboard were going crazy, and my computer's screen was beginning to glitch out. Another blinding cyan flash happened in front of my plane, followed by a lavender flash of light. "Subject is experiencing panic."

As the storm was becoming more violent, the red lightning was getting closer. I saw a city-like shape in the distance, the city looked similar to China's floating city on October 20th, 2015. "Vision, muscle, and organ implants are being readied."

Darkness overcame my Cessna 172 and I heard white noise. "Subject has been extracted from BT-01. Implementing languages of cycle. Muscle implants have been successfully transferred."

My body was overcome with numbness for half a second. I felt a jolt being sent through my soul, and I saw a dimly lit room, much different from the Cessna I was in. "Be calm, Kyle Terrah, you will be the shield of this cycle, and its inhabitants will become your blade. Choose wisely who you communicate with, Terrah."

My headache went away, as well as the hum. I felt a loss of gravity but shortly after everything felt a bit heavier. "Procedure complete, Alitut, put him in TACM-020."

I saw the sky change from a regular thunderstorm sky, to a sunset yellow color. According to my time it was 2:13 P.M. Before I could even process what was happening, I was flying into the floating city. I was greeted by a close call with a flying car. There is no way that this is Earth.

Dave is going to be pissed.

"Unidentified Contact, you are entering Thessian airspace, state your intentions or you will be shot down."

Thessian? Impossible, it has to be.

A/N: I saw many flaws with this chapter, and I felt the need to fix them. Same thing with 2-7. They are not my best writing, so I will be fixing them.


	2. Chapter 2: Lyna

Chapter 2:

Date: October 30th, Unknown, Unknown.

As the voice of the unknown person was speaking, I was busy trying not to crash into alien buildings. "I'll be nice and repeat what I said. You are entering Thessian airspace, state your intentions now, this is your final warning."

Thessian? That can't be right.

I panicked, and looked for the microphone so I could contact whatever was contacting me before I was shot down. "You leave me no other choice, Talen shoot that craft out of the sky! Recover the wreckage if you can."

"Wait, wait, wait. Don't shoot me! I don't even know where I'm at," I said, finally finding a communication device.

There was a short pause from the other end of the line. "You come out of nowhere, appear on our radars, and expect us to believe that you haven't heard of Thessia?"

"What are you talking about? Look, I need answers, and I know that you need answers, so how about we help each other?" I asked, trying to make a deal with this person.

"Fine, how about we get you on the ground first, then proceed with our conversation."

I paused before speaking again. "Let's get something out of the way first, who are you?"

"My name is Lyna Rilac, an Asari Commando in training. I would also like to know who you are, but that can wait until you're not in the middle of Ali Serta's city scape."

The Asari, there is no way this is right. I'm probably going insane. Might as well go with the flow until I land this plane.

"Lyna, I have one question. Where do I land my plane?"

"That's a good question, hang on a second." I heard some commotion in the background, probably the Asari figuring out where I should land, "We have an open field 5 kilometers west from your current location. I'll escort your craft to the location."

"Thanks, Lyna. We'll hopefully get everything when I land." I replied.

Lyna was quick to respond, "I'll see you there."

 _This is bad, I'm flying through the skies of Thessia, not Earth. I'll confirm what year it is once I land._

As soon as I stopped thinking of my next moves, a skycar started to move to the front of my plane. The skycar led me through the city that I was flying ever so smoothly through. I was led past a few mountains to the open field that Lyna was talking about.

In the meantime, I shutdown my laptop and put it into my backpack that was laying behind me. It was blocking my vision, and my stream was offline, so there was no need to waste the battery any longer.

It wasn't long before I noticed an odd looking shuttle trailing behind my Cessna. It looked like a crossover between an Earth UFO and a Kodiak Shuttle.

 _Must be made by the Asari. It could be a prototype Kodiak only seen on Thessia, though they didn't mention anything like this in the games._

"It's time for you to land." I heard Lyna's voice emit from the radio.

I shrugged, not that she could see it, "I'm an experienced pilot, though I may not be able to land this thing and come out in one piece."

"If you perish, then your remains will be shipped to the STG for study," came the reply.

"Well, if that wasn't creepy, I'm not sure what is…"

I began my approach for landing, flaps to 40%, throttle all the way down, gear was already down. Facing west, 362 KM/H and dropping. Landing in approximately 10 seconds.

This was my first attempt at a landing on a field. I'd seen it done in my studies, but I had never done it myself. I had to admit, I was scared for my life. I had no idea what to expect from the outcome other from me being mangled in the crash.

Luckily, the field appeared to be mostly flat with a few bumps here and there, and my hopes were momentarily lifted. I was about five meters from the ground when a feeling of dread washed over my body.

 _What if I die now? After all I've accomplished, I die on an alien planet. That would suck._

I felt a jolt as the Cessna touched Thessia's surface. I heard a screeching sound as I tried to get the plane to come to a halt. The Cessna's landing gear was torn off from the friction with the ground.

I felt the plane tip sideways, and roll over with me inside of it. My arm was slammed onto the dashboard and my wrist started to go numb from the impact. The windshield broke into a million pieces from the impact, and I felt a shard of glass cut into my leg.

I let out a yell in pain and the Cessna came to a screeching halt. I kicked open the mangled door of the Cessna and an Asari was running towards me. I gritted my teeth and pulled the shard of glass out my leg, with the shard of glass coming out, a stream of blood came with it.

"Oh boy… That's not good," I muttered as the Asari approached me curiously.

"What are you?" The Asari asked, and looked at my bleeding leg.

I was overcome with confusion from the Asari's question, "What do you mean? I'm a Human, have you never seen a Human before?"

"Human? There has not been any categorized instance of these 'Humans,'" the Asari told me in a perplexed tone.

I became shocked, and backed up a few steps, before asking, "Lyna was it?" The Asari nodded her head. "alright, what year is it?"

She thought for a moment, "Galactic Standard is 2076, though I'm not sure what that means to you."

 _2076.. 110 years before the start of the Reaper war. I am way too early. I guess I'll have to start making a name for myself, as a species of one. If this is how Javik felt, I feel so sorry for him._

"Lyna, I don't know where the rest of my species is. I don't know how to find them. Though, moving onto more pressing matters, I have a gash in my leg that is currently pumping out blood at an astounding rate. Not to mention that I'm fairly confused with everything that has just happened," I did not know what to say to her, or how to tell her that I was from another dimension. "So, would you mind helping me out here?"

Lyna looked down at the ground and took a deep breath, "I can apply a slow-healing solution to your wound. In the meantime, how about you explain a bit about yourself, then I'll give you a place to stay."

The Asari activated her omni-tool and dispensed a fair bit of an odd cold gel-like solution onto the gash in my leg. The strange goopy substance bubbled around my wound, each excruciating second that the damned thing was on my wounds made me wish that I had never flown into the Bermuda Triangle.

I thought over her offers, and eventually decided to spill a bit of the truth. "I'll tell you a bit about myself now. I'm Kyle Terrah, a civilian pilot from Earth, home of Humanity. I'm 24, which is adult for my age."

Lyna acknowledged my answers with a curt nod, "Okay, I don't want to cause a panic on Thessia because something just crashed out of the skies. Just grab whatever was valuable to you in that craft and meet me in the skycar. I'll take you to my apartment to keep you out of the eye of the public. We can discuss the melding processes on the way to my place. As for the wreckage you came out of, I'll have it moved to a junkyard in Cax Moqua."

I walked over to the remains of the Cessna-172 that I flew in on. I grabbed my backpack and my suitcase in the back seat and started to walk towards Lyna's skycar. I noticed that a lot of odd glances from other Asari were being directed at me as well. I shrugged their confused looks off and kept walking to Lyna's skycar.

"Put your stuff in the back seat, take a seat in the passenger next to me," Lyna commanded, her voice harsh and domineering.

I didn't quite enjoy her tone, but out of my own safety, I made sure to keep my opinions to myself. I sat down in the passenger seat next to Lyna and we went on our way.

"Lyna? It may be rude of me to ask this, but how old are you?" I calmly asked Lyna as we flew away from the slightly damaged field.

"348 years old, this may be a shock to you, but Asari can live to be up to 1000 years old," Lyna replied, clearly wanting to discuss the meld.

"That's a long time, can you give me information on this 'meld'?" I inquired, acting like I didn't know anything about what was happening around me. All of it was out of my own safety.

Lyna took her hands off the controls for the skycar, and put it into auto-pilot. "I'll dumb it down for you. There are two types of melding, one that shares information, and one that is used with a partner in sex. The one that I want us to do is the information, if that wasn't obvious enough."

"Well, that's rather... Blunt," I commented, stifling a laugh at how the Asari explained melding. It wasn't anything new to me, but the description was just a bit humorous.

The skycar came to a halt as we arrived at a build which I presumed to be Lyna's apartment. "Alright Kyle, we're here."

A/N: Medi-gel has been fixed, being replaced by 'odd solution.' I also solved some grammatical issues among other things. For the future readers, keep in mind that this story is over a year old. When I started this project, I didn't exactly know what a beta-reader was, or how they could help me in my adventures. Up until chapter 9, or around that number, the writing will not be as of a high quality like the more recent chapters.


	3. Chapter 3: Mysterious Melding

**A/N: To clairify something that a reviewer asked: 1: This story will span from 2076 all the way until 2186/2187. The story got a lot of views, follows, and favorites last time. Thank you to all that followed and favorited my story. We passed the 200 view mark.**

Chapter 3:

Date: October 30th, 2076, Unknown.

"Nice place, thank you for letting me stay here by the way." I said while looking around Lyna's apartment.

Lyna just stood next to me, it seemed like she was thinking, "Yeah, it's no problem. Not too many Asari get to say they have a species with a population of one living in their apartment."

Lyna's apartment looked a bit like the Lair of The Shadow Broker apartments, but with a purplish hue. "So, where is my room?" I ask, clearly not knowing my surroundings.

"We'll discuss that after the meld, are you prepared?" Lyna questioned.

I was taken by surprise at her question, "You want to meld now?"

"That is what I just said, is it not?"

"I'm sorry, this whole thing is a weird experience for me," I mumbled.

Lyna shrugged, "So, that's even more reason to initiate the meld."

I walked over to where Lyna was standing, where we would start the meld, "I'm ready if you're ready, Lyna."

"Alright, _Embrace Eternity_!"

Everything became dark, silent, and a bit warm. I have to say, having an external presence routing through your memories is quite the odd feeling.

' _Kyle, where is the rest of your species?'_

 _Earth._

' _Where is this, Earth?'_

 _I'm not sure, we never developed space travel in my time._

" _How did you get to Thessia?'_

 _Flying into the Bermuda triangle, a very mysterious place on Earth._

' _Can you activate that memory?'_

 _Activating._

I started my stream.

I started my approach to the Bermuda Triangle.

There was heavy amounts of turbulence.

Lavender, blue, and orange emitted from the clouds I was inside.

I flew my plane directly into stormy clouds.

Red lightning flashed directly in front of me.

Darkness engulfed my vision.

I felt something be inserted into my ears.

I felt a flood of knowledge be transferred into my head.

A voice spoke, "His cells are decelerating, the only way we can keep him alive is to insert cybernetic implants."

"His lifespan will be increased by 200 Earth years. If he's smart, he won't be killed until the deadline," Another voice said.

"With the translator we inserted into his head, he'll be able to understand and speak all languages in the current cycle."

"It's time."

"Time to put him back into reality?"

"Yes."

I arrived at Thessia.

' _Kyle, do you know who those voices were?'_

 _No, I do not._

' _What did they mean by cell deceleration?'_

 _That's the million dollar question._

' _Million dollar question?'_

 _It's a human phrase, meaning I don't know the answer to that._

' _How many phrases do you Humans have?'_

 _Too many to explain in a short sentence._

' _I'm closing the meld, we'll talk more about this in the morning, I assume we both could use some rest.'_

With that I was thrusted out of the meld, still in shock at what actually happened in the Bermuda Triangle. A longer lifespan, one that would surpass any human ever recorded. Along with the fact of a translator placed inside my ear, and not forgetting the flood of knowledge.

I was sure that Lyna was just as confused as me. A mysterious species appearing out of nowhere, only to find out that they speak your language. It's pretty weird if you think about it hard enough.

Anyways, Lyna showed me to my room. All it had was a small bed, a shelf to put my stuff on, and an omni-tool. I attached the omni-tool to my arm and looked at the brand name engraved on the side of it, a Nexus IV.

The only problem is that I had no idea how to turn the Nexus IV on.

 _Uhh… Xbox on?_

Nothing.

 _Nexus on?_

Still nothing.

I eventually resorted to yelling at my arm, "Omni-tool on!"

"That's not how you turn on an omni tool!" I heard Lyna yell from another room.

"Then how do you turn it on?" I yelled back.

I heard Lyna sigh from the other room, "You turn it on by thinking, 'Power up'!"

 _Oh… Power up._

Sure enough the omni-tool came to life. "Thank you, Lyna!" I shouted.

 _Now to explore the options…_

 **A/N: Thought it was good to end it there, I got a bit of comedic relief while writing this. Though most of yesterday, I just delayed this chapter by watching extremely odd YouTube videos. Hopefully the melding process cleared some things up a bit. If not, there will be another meld in Chapter 5. Please review so I can improve my writing.**

 **P.S: Isn't it a bit weird that I always post these chapters way after midnight?**

 **P.P.S: I lied, weapons training will be in Chapter 4.**


	4. Chapter 4: Shiala

**A/N: So, we've reached the 500 views mark in three days, that's a new record. A record that didn't exist until five seconds ago. To confirm something:**

I sat in the bed that I was given to by Lyna and flipped through the settings on my Nexus IV. To be honest there were so many options on the Nexus IV. The connection was much faster than the Comcast internet I had back at Earth. I continued to scroll through the add ons as my eyes began to get tired.

Eventually I closed the Nexus IV down with a simple _Power Down_ thought, and then I went to sleep.

" _KYLE…"_

" _What? Who are you? Why are you in my dreams?"_

" _WE ARE KNOWN AS VERITY, THE AVATAR OF TRUTH."_

" _Avatar? Please tell me you don't fly Ikran and were blue."_

" _WE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT WERE IN YOUR MELD."_

" _Uh… The people that gave me a much older lifetime? Are you those people?"_

" _YES."_

" _I guess I should thank you, I wouldn't have lived to fight in the reaper war. Also, you wouldn't happen to be the same person that pulled me into this universe, would you?"_

" _PARTLY, YOU WERE ALSO PULLED INTO THIS UNIVERSE DUE TO YOU LEAVING YOUR MASS EFFECT GAME OPEN. LEAVING IT OPEN ALLOWED US TO EXTRACT YOU INTO THIS UNIVERSE AND GIVE YOU CERTAIN HEALTH AND KNOWLEDGE BOOSTS."_

" _Riiight… Any other things you want to address to me before I wake up? Or is this all a lucid dream?"_

" _DREAMS ARE OUR WAY OF CONTACTING YOU. YOUR PLACEMENT INTO THIS UNIVERSE IN 2076 WILL DRASTICALLY CHANGE THE WAY THE REAPER WAR TAKES PLACE. IF YOU MAKE THE RIGHT DECISIONS,YOU CAN DRASTICALLY CHANGE THE OUTCOME. THAT IS WHY WE PUT YOU IN THIS TIME PERIOD, 110 YEARS BEFORE THE START OF THE REAPER WAR."_

" _So, what happens after the Reaper war? Do I live in peace, or do I get terminated?"_

" _IF YOU DO NOT USE THE CRUCIBLE AND EVERYONE SURVIVES, YOU WILL GET TO LIVE THE REST OF YOUR DAYS IN PEACE. HOWEVER IF THE CRUCIBLE IS ACTIVATED, YOU WILL HAVE FAILED. THE VAPORIZATION ENDING OF MASS EFFECT 3 WAS THE TRUE ENDING. EVERYTHING ELSE WAS A LIE."_

" _Okay, so I have two options, alert everyone by 2183, or face certain annihilation. Perfect."_

" _NOT EXACTLY. EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON YOU, EVERYONE DEPENDS ON YOU. YOUR MERE PRESENCE HAS ALREADY CAUSED A CHAIN OF EVENTS THAT WOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED."_

" _What.. do… you.. mean?"_

" _LYNA RILAC WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BENEZIA'S MOST TRUSTED COMMANDO."_

" _What…"_

With that, a voice woke me from my dream.

"Kyle, I'm taking you to Lavin Training Grounds to test your abilities. Whether you like it or not, you're coming along." Lyna said.

The sentence surprised me, an Asari commando in training, telling me that she wants to test my abilites. Of course I responded quickly, "Yeah, I'm up for it."

 _If there was one day that I wasn't surprised at all, I'd have a pretty boring life._

So we headed to Lyna's V9.1N Skycar, and started our journey to the Lavin Training Grounds. I was engulfed in my thoughts the whole trip, seeing as Lyna and I were not much of the talking type.

 _I'm going to be older than Shepard, I have more people depending on me than Shepard ever did. The whole thought of me changing the universe is overwhelming. I guess now is better than ever to make a date for me telling Tevos and the current councilors of what is happening or better yet, what will happen. 2096… No. 2086? 100 years of preparation? How will they even take me seriously? They denied the blatant truth in the original series. How are they supposed to believe me?_

 _A secondary party would be nice to have. Someone along the lines of Javik… Javik… I need to get to Eden Prime. There, I can revive Javik, and convince the council that the Reapers exist. Then again, how long can Protheans live? Probably longer than Asari._

"Snap out of it, Kyle. We're at the Lavin training grounds." Lyna's voice shook me out of my thoughts.

I nodded my head, "Yeah, sorry about that. By the way I did some research on my Nexus IV, and to be honest. I found quite a bit of information about these 'Protheans'."

I visibly put air quotes around Prothean so I could not blow my cover. "All you need to know is that they were a race that existed about 50,000 years ago," Lyna stated

"So, how long did the Protheans live?"

"It is rumored that they lived to be 500 years old."

 _500 years, the life issue is settled, now I just have to find out how to get to Eden Prime._

 _Without the use of a Mass Relay, the journey will be impossible. However, if we could salvage a Prothean Vessel, we'd be good., the results could prove worthy of our time._

"Come on, the trainers aren't going to wait all day for you," Lyna said as she rolled her eyes. To be honest, I could actually hear her rolling her eyes.

Lyna led me into the training facility, where I started to get a lot of odd looks from some Asari. We approached an Asari that looked quite familiar. The Asari looked up from her work and noticed me, her body engulfed in blue, and I was put into stasis. "Shiala, what are you doing?" Lyna gasped.

"You tell me. An unknown species walks into Lavin, do you really expect me to remain calm?" Shiala questioned.

The stasis wore off at the end of Shiala's sentence, "I hardly pose a threat, I have little to no combat training anyways. I know you're wondering what species I am, your answer is Human, a species of one."

Shiala looked towards me with a cold glare, "Are you expecting me to believe that you are the last of your species?"

"Not necessarily, I do not know where the rest of my species is located. All I know is that I arrived upon this world with very little knowledge of what happened to me," I stated.

Lyna moved in front of me, "I am taking the Human to the training grounds, you don't like it? You can kiss my ass."

"The human? Are you serious? You know my name, Lyna. I suggest that you use it," I spat.

"No need to be hostile, all I'm trying to do is get Shiala to understand our problem."

I backed off and Shiala did the same. "Lyna, you know that I will have to tell the Council about him," Shiala warned, effectively striking fear into me.

"We can't take him to the Council, they'll torture him for information on his species. Tevos would probably give him to the STG for him to be some lab rat," Lyna yelled as I took a step back from the arguing Asari.

"It's your only option. Either you turn him into the councilor, or risk taking a one way trip to the Terminus."

"You're worse than I thought, Shiala. You'd give Kyle to the council instead of helping him try to get back to his people."

"I'm just trying to keep us both alive, but if you'd rather run off into the Terminus with this thing," Shiala threatened, gesturing over to me, "be my guest."

Now was my time to step into the argument, "Whatever these Terminus systems are, they're much better than this 'Council'!"

Lyna gave a nod of approval and turned back towards Shiala, "Shiala, consider this my official resignation from Asari Commando Training."

Shiala took a few steps back, clearly in surprise at what Lyna had just said. I glanced towards Lyna, who was standing still with fire in her eyes. Lyna tore a badge that I hadn't really noticed until now off of her breastplate. "You can have this, Shiala, seeing as I'll no longer need it."

Lyna took me by my arm, and led me to the exit of Lavin Training Grounds. "So… I guess we're not going to train," I joked as we headed for Lyna's V9.1N skycar.

Lyna slowly turned her head towards me. "Do not joke about what just happened. I just sacrificed my entire career to save your life. Now we have to get off of Thessia, and go to the Terminus systems," Lyna spat, clearly not trying to hide the venom in her tone.

"You don't have to be so hostile, all I'm trying to do is lighten up the mood. Also, if I was in your position, I would have done the same damn thing. " I said, keeping my cool despite Lyna's anger.

"And you don't have to try to be funny every five seconds. In all honesty, it pisses me off that you absolutely feel the need to joke about our misfortune."

I said nothing, I just looked out the window of the skycar refusing to say anything to Lyna for the time being. To my surprise Lyna stopped talking to me after I stopped replying.

So, out of boredom I opened up my omni-tool and started to connect to the extranet. To be honest, the extranet is quite different from the internet. The amount of information that I found through one search made Google's most searched term look like a spec of dust.

I powered down my Nexus IV, and started to plan the next move Lyna and I would make. _We could buy a civilian corvette, then again, I don't know how much credits Lyna has. The Migrant Fleet would be a good place to seek refuge, though I don't know how trusting Quarians currently are. I could tell Lyna that I remembered that my home was somewhere beyond Relay 314, in the Orion Arm._

 _No, she wouldn't risk a trip through Relay 314, even to get me back home. I could 'accidentally' lose contact with Lyna in a few years to try to contact the Geth. Though the Geth would probably shoot me out of the sky. Feros… I will risk going to Feros for Prothean technology in a few years._

 _If I take Lyna, she'll probably become suspicious of my knowledge. I don't want her to find out, at least not until the First Contact War begins. If Lyna finds out, I'll be in a bit of trouble._

I stopped thinking for a moment as Lyna's skycar began to decelerate. I looked out of the skycar's windows once more, where I saw an asari shuttle heading for Lyna's apartment.

"Hey Lyna? Who is in that shuttle heading for your apartment?"

 **A/N: That wraps up the chapter for now. To be honest I never meant for Shiala to be heavily involved in the scene where we are getting ready to leave Thessia. Also, I started school again, so chapter updates will become less frequent. Thanks to loads of people for following, and Bler for beta-reading.**


	5. Chapter 5: Samara

**A/N: I should point out that there will be short paragraphs for years or months, instead of a usual timeline. I changed the rating to T, as the M rating was not justified. I also made edits to other chapters, if I missed anything, please let me know.**

Chapter 5:

Date: October 31st, 2076.

Lyna looked up from the holographic display of the skycar. A look of dread suddenly covered her face. "Kyle, that shuttle is not an ordinary shuttle. That shuttle belongs to a Justicar named Samara," Lyna quietly spoke.

 _Samara? Isn't she supposed to be hunting Morinth? What ever the case, I will have to tell the truth to her. My life depends on it._

I decided to not spill the beans yet. "So? Isn't she just another form of Law Enforcement?"

"No, she's something much more than petty law enforcement. She's a very powerful biotic, one that could tear you in half if she wanted to."

"What do you suggest we do? I barely have any combat training, and you seem to dread this person," I added.

Lyna shrugged, "We tell the absolute truth, and we are let go. However, if we tell her one untruthful thing, we are dead."

An idea came to my mind, "How about I have Samara meld with me, sure I'll be exhausted afterwards, but we'll be let off scot free."

"...Scot free?" Lyna asked

I fought the urge to facepalm. "Human expression, it basically means that she won't try to kill us."

I looked out the window for the third time of this ride, to check if the shuttle was actually Samara's. Sure enough, I saw Samara's red combat armor, along with her teal skin. Seeing her, a major character in the Mass Effect storyline sent chills down my spine.

 _I'll tell Samara about my true origins through the meld. About Mass Effect, and more so about Morinth. Telling her about future dates and events could be a fairly good decision._

Right as I finished the thought, I was jolted forwards by Lyna landing the skycar without ease. Lyna looked towards me and gave an apologetic stare, "Kyle, do not resist when she melds with you."

"Don't worry, I won't."

We were greeted by Samara as Lyna opened the car doors. Lyna and I stepped out of the skycar. "Lyna Rilac? I am Justicar Samara, I understand that you have taken an unknown new species without the council's permission," Samara addressed Lyna.

"Yes, he arrived onto Thessia one day ago, in a craft we know nothing about. I melded with him, apparently he flew the craft into a very mysterious place on his world, then he ended up here. Not much else to it," Lyna replied, trying not to show any fear to the Justicar.

Samara looked over to me, where I looked straight back into her eyes. "What is this new species called?"

Before Lyna could reply, I spoke up. "My species is Human. If you were wondering, my name is Kyle Terrah."

"How do you know how to speak our language," Samara inquired.

"Honestly, I do not know. I think we could meld minds for a better exchange of information," I stated.

Samara did not show any signs that she was surprised, instead she nodded. "Kyle Terrah, prepare yourself."

I heard the familiar yell, " _Embrace Eternity!"_

 _Hello, Samara._

' _Hello, Kyle Terrah.'_

 _What I'm about to tell you must not be revealed until 2157. If any of this information finds it's way to the Council, an apocalypse on a galactic scale will take place._

' _If you have information pertaining to me, I suggest you start with that first.'_

 _Are you sure you want information that I have about you, and the galaxy itself?_

' _I am sure, whatever information you might hold will not leave my mind until you give the word.'_

 _This may not be very believable, but I have memories to back it up._

' _Go ahead.'_

 _I was born on the Human planet of Earth on April 15th, 1995, 81 years ago. I technically shouldn't even be alive right now, but here I am. On September 30th, 2015, I flew into the heart of the Bermuda Triangle. The galactic equivalent to the Bermuda triangle is the Preying Mouth._

' _And what happened?'_

 _I'll activate a memory showing what happened._

I climbed into the cockpit of the Cessna 172 Skyhawk.

I started up my Stream

The plane took off under my command.

I headed west, right towards the heart of the Bermuda Triangle.

My plane was suddenly engulfed in a storm.

I started to experience tons of turbulence.

Soon enough, maroon lightning surrounded my plane.

I experienced the lavender, orange, and blue flashes that nearly blinded my vision.

The gauges were malfunctioning.

I slipped out of consciousness.

I felt some sort of device be inserted into my ears.

The device started to let out a low pitched noise.

My brain was overflooded with knowledge of species, blueprints, and things I didn't even know existed.

Major Prothean relics of Feros, Therum, Eden Prime, and Ilos were imprinted into my head.

A female voice spoke, "The Human's cells are decelerating, if we don't act fast, we'll lose the subject."

Another voice spoke, it almost sounded Prothean. "Cybernetics have been inserted into his body, he'll live at least 200 years. Maybe even 300."

The female voice spoke again, "With what we implanted into his mind, he'll be able to understand most post-Prothean era languages."

The Prothean told the female voice. "If he does not find the Elixir before 2183. The Cycle will continue."

"I understand, I am releasing the subject to Thessia."

My vision came back to me and the sky was an alien color.

"Unidentified contact, you are entering Thessian airspace. State your intentions or you will be shot down."

 _That is all I can remember, Samara._

' _You know more, why are you keeping that information secret?'_

 _It's something that cannot be explained in a few sentences._

' _Tell me, we have time.'_

 _Well, where should I start? I know the where the rest of my species is. They're in the Sol system, past Relay 314, and many other Relay branches. In 2157 the Turians will make a bloody first contact with my race. Humanity will have a strong impact on Galactic matters. In 2183, Saren, a future spectre will go rogue. Saren will become a greater threat than all the criminals on Omega combined. He will lead the Heretic geth to the Human colony of Eden Prime, where Commander Shepard will intercept him._

 _The Citadel will also be attacked in 2183. Shepard will save it earning Humanity a spot on the Council. Some time along that year Shepard will also die._

 _In 2185 Shepard will be revived by a Pro-Human organization known as Cerberus. She will recruit a lot of people, including you to stop attacks on Human colonies._

 _Shepard will embark on Loyalty missions to solve all of their problems. For you, she will help you kill Morinth._

 _In 2186, the Reapers arrive, and mostly everyone dies._

' _This information is unbelievable. How you obtained information about future events is beyond me. By any chance, are you Prothean?'_

 _No, I am not a Prothean, though I do know where some are cryogenically frozen._

' _How did you know about Morinth?'_

 _Everything from this universe is a combat simulation from my universe. I guess I hopped universes by flying into the Bermuda Triangle._

' _How long do you plan on keeping this from Lyna?'_

 _I do not know._

' _I'm going to end the meld. You will hear from me again in a few years, I want to see this Ilos.'_

I was pushed out of the meld, Samara looked back to Lyna. "His information is correct, you are free to go for now."

"Justicar Samara, what did you think of his memories?" Lyna questioned.

Samara calmly replied, "He is unique and he knows more than Matriarch Benezia."

"Can we at least-" Lyna was cut off by Samara.

Lyna glanced towards me for half a second, then turned her gaze back towards Samara. "Lyna Rilac and Kyle Terrah, I will give you my advice. Buy a Dystopia Class Corvette for 400,000 credits from the Cox Moqua Ship Dealer. Venture out to The Phoenix Massing, travel to the Typhon system. If I am correct, there will be an uncolonized planet there, rich in Element Zero. Set up a two person settlement there, and wait for my arrival on June 20th, 2083," Samara ordered.

"Why 2083?" Lyna asked.

Samara started to walk back to her personal shuttle. As she was about to enter it, she hinted, "It is seven years from now, enough time for me to try to find a fugitive. Also, a century after that date, things will change on a Galactic scale."

With that, Samara boarded her shuttle and left us. Lyna gave me a confused look as to what Samara had said. "What did she mean by things will change on a Galactic scale?"

"She was probably trying to scare us, though I assume we will get the full details by 2083," I responded, lying through my teeth.

Lyna let off a scoff and unlocked the door to her apartment. I followed her inside where we both packed up our valuables. I picked up my laptop which was still running Mass Effect. I took one long look at the digital Port Hanshan, then shut my laptop down.

I hefted my backpack onto my shoulder, I knew that what I had with me was not enough to survive on Aite. The backpack was filled to the brim, and there was nothing I could do about it. I walked over to where Lyna was packing her things, apparently she was on her omni-tool with another Asari.

"I know mom, but I gotta go out of contact for a while. A Justicar came by today, she said I would be in danger if I didn't vacate Thessia. … Yes, Justicar Samara. … I love you, mom. I'll be back in contact by 2084."

I leaned back against the wall, silently waiting for Lyna to end the call with her mother. I waited about another minute for the call to finish. "You know, we should probably get going," I commented with a slight joking tone.

Lyna turned towards me with a scowl on her face. "You don't have as much to pack, all you had was your primitive devices and clothes to pack. Where as I have things that are actually of value in this world."

"No need to be so touchy, I was just telling you that we should get going. The calm isn't going to last forever, if we don't act soon, you'll be arrested, and I'll be captured."

Lyna scoffed, "This is so stupid, we're going to an uncolonized world just to avoid being captured."

"That's the unofficial story, hell, even I don't like it, but it's just what we have to do to survive."

I left Lyna after what I finished saying. I knew it would be the worst sight ever telling Lyna about my true origins at this time. Though Samara did warn me of the consequences if I waited until 2083 to tell Lyna.

 _I'll just tell her when we get the small colony on Aite setup._

"Let's leave this place, Kyle." I heard Lyna call from the apartment exit.

I silently followed Lyna, still thinking of my actions. I was lost in a universe, one that was completely fictional in my world. Then I'm being led around by an Asari Commando that just quit her training for me. I probably saved her from serving under Benezia though.

I stepped into the skycar, and we headed to Cax Moqua where we would buy the Dystopia Class Corvette. All of the sudden, a black and grey object was thrust into my hands. "Take this and insert it into your omni-tool's frontal port," Lyna commanded.

I twisted my wrist to face my eyes, _Power Up_. I saw the frontal port, and inserted the black and grey object into it. An HD screen from my Nexus IV appeared. _-Are you sure you want to install Tactical Cloak V onto this omni-tool, yes or no?-_

I selected 'yes', and the cloak started to install onto my omni-tool. "That's a long lasting cloak, it will cover every movable object under 50 pounds that you touch. The duration of the cloak is 30 seconds, activate the cloak like an omni-tool. You'll have to hide temporarily when it depletes. Except, think 'Engage TC-V'," Lyna informed me.

"Right, so how long until we reach Cax Moqua?" I questioned.

"We should be arriving now, activate your cloak now."

 _Engage TC-V._

My whole body became invisible as the car landed, Lyna opened the doors and motioned me to stay behind her at all times. I gladly followed Lyna to the kiosk for Dystopia Class Corvettes. Lyna stopped for a moment to talk with the Asari ship dealer.

"Hello, how much is a Dystopia Class Corvette?" Lyna asked one of the ship dealers.

I moved to an enclave where I would have sight of Lyna and stay equally hidden at the same time. My cloak disengaged as I got into cover, no one noticed me so far.

"About 450,000 for the Civilian model. If you want an armored one with a Hydra-75 Mass Accelerator, and extended fuel cells, that will be 900,000 credits."

"I'll take the militaristic Dystopia Class Corvette."

"Alright, I'll need identification for that."

A turian passed by, took a picture of me, and walked off with a smile on his face.

"Lyna Rilac, Asari Commando. I was sent here by Justicar Samara."

"A Justicar? Alright, Lyna, everything checks out. Your new Corvette is docked at bay C-72."

I engaged my cloak once again, moving behind Lyna.

Lyna left the stand, and I hurried up to her, "I have 20 seconds remaining, we might want to move fast."

Lyna nodded her head and broke into a fast pace. We weaved in and out of Asari along the way, I passed by a Quarian that seemed to turn around when I passed her. Though I did not notice that the Quarian started to follow us.

I kept the fast pace as we approached bay C-72. Lyna led me into our Dystopia Class Corvette's airlock, where my cloak finally ran out of juice. The same Quarian that I breezed past also materialized. Lyna and I glanced towards the Quarian with surprised looks on our faces.

"Uh, hello there."

 **A/N: That wraps up that chapter. I hope everyone will like the addition of the Quarian who has yet to be named. Also, the Dystopia Class Corvette has to be named, I still need to decide on that.**


	6. Chapter 6: Xen

**A/N: Yay, new chapter update. Hopefully everyone likes my choice of the Quarian name. Also, hopefully everyone likes the Dystopia Class Corvette's new name. Trust me, it was a pain to constantly write out 'Dystopia Class Corvette'.**

Chapter 6:

Date: October 31st, 2076.

"Care to explain why you're on our ship, Quarian?" Lyna got up into the Quarian's face, effectively startling him.

The Quarian raised her hands in surrender. "I saw a shimmer in the air, I decided to follow it. I activated my cloak so I wouldn't be seen as well."

I shrugged, deciding to ask what the quarian's name was. "Hey, what's your name, Quarian?"

"I'll answer that when you tell me what species you are and why you're speaking Khelish."

I glanced at Lyna, then back to the Quarian. "I'm Human, a species with a current population of one. I'm speaking Khelish via an implant that was inserted into my head."

"Impossible, how did you wind up on Thessia? What took away you from the rest of your species?"

Lyna finally butted into the conversation. "His origins are too much to explain in a short conversation. I suggest you leave now, Quarian."

"I'm staying with you and your ship, Asari. You are the only way I can get back to the Migrant Fleet."

"We're under strict orders to head to an uncolonized planet by a Justicar, either you can find another ship, or wait a few years to return to the fleet."

"Well, you haven't thrown me off the ship yet, so I'm going with you, no matter how long it takes. Anyways, my name is Daro'Xen nar Episo."

 _Daro'Xen, that's impossible… Actually, no it isn't, there's been a lot of weird stuff that has happened since I got here. There's also a chance that Quarians have a much longer lifespan than mentioned in the games. Come to think of it, Quarian lifespans were never actually mentioned in the games. I'll have to ask Daro or Lyna how long Quarians live._

"Alright Daro, I guess you can come with us. I'm Kyle Terrah, a Human, my partner is Lyna Rilac, an Asari Commando." I addressed Daro'Xen while Lyna unlocked the Corvette's main airlock.

Lyna grabbed my arm while looking at me with eyes of steel. "I really don't think we should bring this thing along with us, the Quarians are beggars and thieves."

I stared into Lyna's eyes with a blank expression, the stare created an awkward silence between me and Lyna. I finally broke the silence after what seemed like an eternity. "Back at my world, we treated everyone with respect. I suggest you do the same with Daro'Xen nar Episo."

Lyna pushed my arm away and looked to the floor. "Whatever, Kyle."

"Tell me, what did Daro do to you, what did the Quarians ever do to you? Racism was heavily frowned upon back at Earth, in some parts of the world it would get you killed. Now, if we are to survive on this uncolonized world, we will need to trust each other." I made a little mini-speech, making me that much closer to Commander Shepard's personality.

"Well said, Kyle Terrah." Daro'Xen agreed with me.

Lyna gawked at me and Daro'Xen. "Alright Kyle, you're right, I'll give Daro a chance. We'll need all the help we can get. Daro, you're good with tech, right?"

"Yes I am, what do you need me to do?" Xen asked with a slight hint of hostility towards Lyna.

Lyna motioned her hands towards the bridge of the ship. "If you can pilot this we'll let you stay on the ship, as well as getting you a pilgrimage gift in a few years."

Daro walked into the bridge, her hands skimming the pilot's seat with fascination. she sat down into the pilot's seat and activated the holographic display. Daro'Xen panned the seat to where she was looking at both me and Lyna, she let out a long sigh, "I think you found yourself a new pilot, Lyna."

"Good, I'll be in the captain's quarters, setting all of my stuff up. Kyle, you and Daro focus on getting the ship to Aite," Lyna demanded. She then walked away without any further words.

I sat down in the co-pilot's seat to the left of Daro, where she simply nodded at me. She pressed a few buttons on the holographic display, unlatching the Corvette from its docking cradles. Suddenly, a voice came over the intercom of the ship. "Dystopia Class Corvette-1049, your departure is unscheduled. Turn around immediately or risk being shot down."

"Daro, please patch me into the signal that just contacted us," I requested, while formulating a plan.

Xen had no hesitation, she immediately patched me into the comm system without uttering a single word. "Hello, we were ordered to get off of Thessia by Justicar Samara. If you want to risk shooting us down, then you'll have a Justicar to deal with," I blindly threatened.

"You are free to go if what you say is true. Consequently, we will hunt you down if the information turns up as false."

Xen shut off the intercom before I could say farewell. "It's better to get out of Asari Space before we are questioned, I'm sure you don't want to be caught by the authorities," Xen commented on her actions, and returned to the holographic panels.

As soon as we got 900 kilometers away from Thessia, Xen initiated a short FTL jump to the nearest mass relay. As we approached the Mass Relay, I pulled out my laptop that was currently at 32% battery. Mass Effect was still open, and my Shepard was still standing at Port Hanshan. I saved my game yet again, and exited out of Mass Effect.

Xen took notice of my laptop and its battery level. "Is that something from where you came from? It's look is fairly unique." Xen inquired while we waited to arrive at the mass relay.

"Yeah, it's running out of battery life though. In an hour or so, it'll be out of juice," I muttered.

Xen was happy that she would have the chance to look at newer technology, "I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I took a look at it, besides, I could try to modify the battery to be similar to an omni-tool's."

"You can do that?" I asked, I was surprised that Daro'Xen would decide to help me so soon.

Xen nodded, so I closed Origin and turned off my laptop. I opened up my laptop's case, took out the battery, and handed it to Daro. She took the battery from me and started scanning over it with her omni-tool. "Damn this is primitive, lucky for you it will be very easy to improve due to its simplicity. Also, are you sure you just want me to fix the battery, I could improve many other components too," Daro said.

"I think we should give it a shot," I murmured, happy that my laptop was finally getting an upgrade. I handed Daro my laptop, which she took from my hands and started to examine.

I stared at her for a few seconds, waiting for her to speak. "Kyle, this piece of machinery is amazing. I could virtually connect it to the Corvette's systems, making it to where I could control the ship from a very far distance. With a few upgrades, of course."

I grinned, but my happiness was cut short as we arrived at the Athena Nebula Mass Relay. Daro'Xen put my laptop on the floor and turned to the pilot's holographic display. She panned her head towards me, "So, do you know where we're going?"

"Yeah, we're headed to the Typhon System in The Phoenix Massing. On June 20th, 2083, a certain Justicar will visit us." I informed Daro of our destination.

"A Justicar? Why would a Justicar seek you out?" Xen asked.

I sighed, "She's coming because of my species."

Daro turned her head back to the controls and headed straight for the relay. I watched as the ship was engulfed in a blue electrical charge and we were shot off into the Serpent Nebula. Five seconds later, we cleared the relay system heading to The Phoenix Massing. It was a very bumpy flight heading from one corner of the Galaxy to another. All I knew was it was going to be a very long trip from the Tassrah system to the Typhon system.

"Well, now it's a journey to the Typhon system. This is going to take a few days to get to the Typhon System, you know that right?" Daro said while picking my laptop off of the floor

I shrugged, "I know it's going to take a while, though a few days is much better than 88 years."

"Why 88 years?" Xen inquired. I remembered that this was a different timeframe, and even a different universe than my own.

"Back at my world, the most advanced ship drive my people had was theorized to be an EMDrive. The EMDrive was an electromagnetic ship drive that generated small amounts of propulsion. If we can upgrade my laptop without wiping the hard drive, I can show you a video of it," I responded to Xen's question, which still probably made no sense to her.

Daro'Xen was silent for a few seconds before saying a word, "You are a very confusing person, Kyle Terrah. I'm going to be flying the ship for the next few hours until we get out of the system, then I'll put it on auto-pilot to work on your 'laptop'."

 _We should really give the Corvette a name._

"Hey Daro, before I leave, do you want to decide upon a name for the Corvette?"

She nodded while focusing on the holographic panels, "I really don't care what we name it. It's up to you."

"How about, 'Bermuda'?"

Xen shrugged, "I think that'll work, nice idea. We'll just have to see if Rilac likes it, that is, if Lyna likes anything."

"Sounds good, I'm going to go see what Lyna is up to. Keep doing what you're doing Daro, and hopefully we'll make it to Aite in one piece," I finished the conversation with Daro'Xen.

"Bye."

I walked away from where Xen was piloting our ship. It seemed that the ship was much larger on the outside rather than the inside. I walked over to where Lyna was setting up her room. "Yes, I'm taking the Captain's quarters. I bought this ship, I get to have it. You can sleep on the sofa in this room, or in the crew quarters with Xen."

"I wasn't going to say anything, but this is quite spacious. I mean, you could fit four people in here and still have room for two more," I said while calmly entering the Captain's quarters.

"Here we have the life of luxury, but when we get to this Aite… We will be tested to the best of our abilities. I hope that you know one or two things about survival, and I hope our Quarian knows how to cook her own food. Because things could get messy down there, and if you die, our Justicar will kill me too. Then that Quarin will take our ship and return it as a 'pilgrimage gift'." Lyna ranted, neither of us knowing of the hardships to come.

I cracked my knuckles, "I was a scout back at Earth, trust me, I know more than a few things about survival. I just want you to know that whatever happens to me or Xen, we will make it. We will survive through the harshest of conditions. I will make sure of that."

"Huh, I see you've already bonded with that Quarian. Don't even think about going into a relationship with her," Lyna put her hand onto my shoulder and gave it a light push.

"I wasn't planning on starting a relationship with anyone, not yet at least," I said, pushing Lyna back a bit.

Lyna scoffed and turned around, "Yeah, soon enough you'll be sleeping together."

I grabbed Lyna's shoulder and turned her body towards me, "You know that's not true, even if we developed a relationship, I doubt she'd be up for it. Besides, what does it matter to you?"

Lyna pushed herself away from me, "I'm going to bed, you're probably tired as well. The Quarian can sleep in the crew quarters. Put your stuff where you want it, this is our room now."

I put my backpack and suitcase onto a ledge and sat down on the sofa. "You know Lyna, I was speculating over the day's events. Compared to my old life back at Earth, I've done so much more in two days than an entire year," I commented, and continued watching Lyna unpack her bags.

"I don't know if you knew this Kyle, but it's pretty creepy to stare at someone in silence."

"I know that Lyna, I'm not staring, I'm thinking. You just happen to be where I am looking at," I coyly said. I laid down on the couch and yawned.

"Still, try not to stare at me like a creep."

"As I said, I was not staring at you, I was simply thinking," I insisted and started to close my eyes.

Lyna sighed, "Whatever, goodnight, Kyle."

"Night Lyna."

Soon enough, I was taken into a very dark dream.

 _I saw a white light flash, then a light red liquid splattered onto my body. Lyna's body laid in front of me, a fresh bullet wound gazed across her shoulder_. _An army of indoctrinated humans approached me, and took me and Lyna away to a facility. I saw my life flash before my eyes as Lyna and I were dragged on the ground to the facility. As we approached the entrance of the facility, an indoctrinated trooper dropped dead._

" _You should be more careful, Terrah."_

I was thrust out of my dream, and into the land of the living. I got up off of the sofa, deciding to head towards the bridge of the ship. I saw Daro'Xen, still flying the ship. I walked my way over to the copilot's seat and sat down, "Hey Daro, how are you doing?"

"Well, we're almost to Aite, I figured that you'd be up soon, seeing as it's early in the morning right now. You know that you slept for two days, right?" Xen mentioned.

I was shocked that I slept for two days, "Oh great, you know that I'm a hard sleeper now. Let's just say that I could sleep through anything, even a gunshot a few meters away."

"Oh? I'll be sure to try to wake you up with a gunshot next time you go to sleep. I'm sure your reaction would be priceless," Daro mused with a little chuckle following the end of her sentence.

"I've been meaning to ask this, but where are we going to find food?" I asked.

Xen stopped tapping at the holographic display for a second, "We don't have any dextro food, do we?"

"I don't even know if we have levo-amino foods."

"We could go to Omega if this planet doesn't have both levo-amino and dextro-amino foods. Though, I really don't want to go to Omega, though I do believe that I have an old friend there."

"Who is your old friend?"

"His name was Ithera'Lyik nar Vertilex, not sure if he's still alive, though." Daro'Xen said.

I put my hand on Xen's shoulder to comfort her, "We'll head to Omega soon, get the supplies and find your friend. Right now, I don't care if anyone knows who I am. What species I am, or how I got here. We need to help each other out, not ignore the most basic of problems."

 **A/N: I'm going to have to end the chapter there. Originally I was going to make Zaal'Koris the Quarian we found. Also, if this wasn't already known, I'm making the Quarians have a lifespan of around 200-300 years, similar to my character's. I figured with all the cybernetic enhancements that the Quarians have, their lifespan would be increased. Also, I finally hit 10,000 words, that's a nice milestone to have, also, I try to retain as much realism in this story as possible, so it actually makes a little bit of sense.**


	7. Chapter 7: Ithera and Vodnik

**A/N: I put in some new characters. I do like how the story has been progressing, and how many options I am given to write this story. I commonly write with music, sometimes it's ambient, other times it's random. I'll just say this, you can make some really good ambience with Audacity with Paulstretch and -19.20 pitch. This was originally supposed to be a 5,000 word chapter, but due to delays and resets, I ran into some problems.**

Chapter 7:

Date: November 3rd, 2076.

Lyna had taken the Asari shuttle to head to Omega for levo-amino and dextro-amino foods. "I'll try to find Ithera, if I do not return with him, do not be disappointed. I am making a run for food supplies so we can all survive," she had said before departing.

We were in orbit of Aite, the planet where we would be living for several years. "We still would need Element Zero for most of our technologies," Daro'Xen and I had been talking about Faster Than Light travel without the use of Element Zero for quite awhile now. We were waiting for Lyna to return with our supplies needed to survive.

"But what if we made a hybrid of Element Zero? We could combine both a secondary means of FTL travel and Element Zero," I pondered along with Daro'Xen.

"We'd have a few things to worry about there, what if Element Zero was not compatible with our secondary element? Also, how would we even find a secondary Element to combine with Element Zero?" Xen asked while upgrading my Laptop.

I motioned in front of us, "We find something in other solar systems, if we can create a FTL drive that would render the most element zero based cores completely useless, imagine what could happen."

"Well, I could probably take back my homeworld. You could probably return to your people and uplift them," Xen theorized.

"That could be possible, even then we'd have to find complete blueprints to make a drive such as this."

"Kyle, didn't you say you had files of the Human EMDrive on your laptop?"

I looked towards my laptop that Xen was currently repairing. "I do, but that's pretty old technology."

Xen gazed at my laptop's hard drive. "Was it powered by Element Zero?"

"No, but-"

Xen interrupted my sentence, "If it wasn't powered by element zero, we can use it for testing when we get the materials to build it. If we combine it with materials from a Eezo core without the Eezo, we could invent a very powerful FTL drive."

"Alright, we'll view the EMDrive files when you finish repairing my laptop," I got up out of the co-pilot's chair and pulled out my phone. I had no connection to the internet, yet I didn't care. I stared at the Mass Effect wallpaper on my phone's activation screen. I didn't want Xen to become suspicious of my origins quite yet.

 _Daro'Xen is much smarter than Lyna, I know she'll confront me first about my origins. Just when she confronts me about it is the question. I do have to tell them both at some point, if I don't Samara will be very unhappy with me. If Xen doesn't figure it out in a year, I'll tell them both at the same time. If Daro does figure my origins out in under a year, then I'll tell Lyna after Xen confronts me._

"Do you mind if I fiddle with the smaller device, Kyle?" Xen asked while repairing my laptop.

I turned around to see Xen almost done with repairing my laptop. "Yeah, just give me a few minutes to change the settings around a bit."

"And it will take a few minutes for me to finish upgrading your laptop, go ahead and do what you have to do with that smaller device."

I deleted every Mass Effect Image that I had on my phone, with the exception of star maps. I stood there, looking at my old phone. "I'm done with your laptop, mind handing your smaller device over?"

I sighed and handed my phone to Xen. She inspected it for a solid fifteen seconds before saying, "This technology is crude, but very interesting. Since this has a flash feature, if could confuse any geth we might come across."

"So, you're saying that a simple flash would disable the geth?"

Xen shook her head, "No, not a simple flash, the intensity of the flashlight is eight times brighter than a standard Omni-tool light. This could potentially shut down the geth platform."

"Then we could extract the memory core?"

"Precisely, moving on, can you get your laptop to the EMDrive files?"

I moved over to my laptop, opened the screen and turned out my laptop. I loaded up windows explorer, started to browse the EMDrive files that I had on my computer. I pulled up the image that I had put little component files in. There were a ton of blueprints for the EMDrive. "I got the files up, are we absolutely sure we want to go through with this?" I asked.

Xen yanked my laptop out of my hands. "Perfect, all we need are the materials shown, right?"

"Yeah, that's it. You still haven't answered my question though, are you sure we want to try to create the EMDrive?" I repeated.

"Of course, why else would we be searching through your laptop for these blueprints?" Xen retorted. She was still inspecting the blueprints and the files that I had stored on my laptop.

I stood up from where I briefly sat in the co-pilot's chair, "We can probably find most of these materials on Aite, remember, we'll have about seven years to create the EMDrive."

"Seven years is a long time, Kyle. If the blueprints are true, this thing only travels 10% the speed of light. Give me some time to study this, and I'll see if I could improve upon the design."

I shrugged and sat back down. I started to fiddle with my omni-tool when a pop-up ad came up. _And yet, with all this future technology… They still have pop-up advertisements._

The pop-up didn't turn out to be an advertisement, but rather a warning. ' _Pay attention to your dreams. They could prove useful later.'_ I read through the text. I became creeped out, not by the crypticness of the message, but by the truth.

Two days prior to my journey into the Bermuda Triangle, I had a fairly odd night's rest. I didn't think much of it then. Now I know that what I saw was a vision of my future. In my sleep, I remember having a very vivid dream, I thought I was experiencing a lucid dream back then.

In the dream, I was in a silver hallway, I heard a scream in front of me, which I followed. A weapon was in my hands, one that I couldn't quite make out. All I knew was that it was of alien design. Something orange glowed on my wrist, a holographic screen followed.

' _Kyle, you need to get out of there! It isn't safe!'_ A female voice yelled at me.

 _I will not leave without finding her! Save yourself while I find the rest!_ I yelled back.

' _We all lose people in our life! Sacrificing yourself won't save that!'_

 _Maybe it will, and maybe it won't. Either way, I will find her, even if I die._

I saw a star's explosion, it engulfed me, and everything along with it. I then woke up, very confused about what happened in the dream.

"Kyle? Lyna said she has the food, everything went alright on Omega, for once."

I turned my head over to where Daro'Xen sat. "I assume we'll be planetside soon?"

"That would be a correct assumption."

I received a ping on my Omni-tool, which wasn't powered up at the time. There was a message from Lyna. 'I have gotten the food and Quarian off of Omega, expect our arrival in a few days. Also, I found a little surprise in Omega. I've captured some asshole named Vodnik. He looks to be Human as well.'

 _Human? I'm not the only one? If this Vodnik is here, he probably has no idea what's going on._

I looked over to Xen who was still fiddling around with my phone. "Hey Xen, Lyna has picked up Ithera and is currently coming back to us."

"Ah, so she found and retrieved Ithera. Ithera can be a bit crazy at times, and he enjoys killing. Word of warning, do not get on his bad side."

 _It kind of makes sense that Xen would befriend another crazy person. If Ithera does enjoy killing, then I hope to god that he doesn't enjoy killing his own people._

 **(Lyna Rilac POV)**

I arrived at Omega, one of the most dangerous places in the galaxy. I was having to remind myself that I was under orders of a Justicar, I had to get food to keep everyone alive. No one would be able to try and stop me.

I didn't like this place, too much crime for my liking. Though I did have to watch out for the Ithera Quarian, at request of Daro'Xen. I had just attached my shuttle to Omega, where I started on my journey for food. I knew this wouldn't take long without any problems. I had gone through a few stores in a matter of two hours. The levo-amino problem was settled. Now all I had to do was get the dextro-amino food for Daro'Xen.

When I left the last dextro-amino food store, I bumped into a Quarian who accidently dropped his pistol from our combined forces. "Why hello there, did you drop anything, Asari?" The Quarian addressed me.

"It's alright. By the way, do you know an Ithera'Lyik nar Vertilex?" I questioned the Quarian.

The Quarian nodded, "You're looking at him. Why do you ask?"

"I need you to come with me, I'm under a Justicar's order to take you onto my ship." I lied, using the threat of a Justicar to convince the Quarian to come with me.

"Why would I be of interest? Not that I'm complaining, but I could just be another Omega criminal. Why trust me?" Ithera retorted, pacing back and forth.

I sighed, "It's not me who trusts you. I'm under order of a Justicar to take you with me, as I said before."

Ithera shrugged and picked his pistol up off of the ground, "We should get moving if you are telling the truth. I do not want to spend another minute on this rock."

I said nothing, and started to jog back to my shuttle with Ithera following close behind. The jog was mostly peaceful, until another one of Kyle's species walked out of a hallway. The Human looked back into the hallway, where he took a small blade from his lower back. He then looked towards the rest of Omega, with a look of surprise on his face. He seemed to be in possession of a lot of primitive weaponry.

The Human pulled out a pistol, and checked it. He did this with everything he had on him, including his assault rifle. He took a few steps forwards and backwards, rebalancing himself. He then turned around and froze at the sight of Ithera and I.

"Ithera, do not move a muscle, we do not want to scare him."

The Human pulled out an assault rifle of some sorts. "Tell me what's happening right now, or I will not hesitate to shoot you! Where am I? What are you people?"

He did a double take on Ithera, and then looked back to where I was standing. "Aliens? This is not the job I signed up for."

Ithera pulled out his pistol and aimed it towards the unknown man wearing shorts and a t-shirt with black leather gloves. He ran behind a crate and Ithera started to approach where the dude was taking cover. When Ithera got too close, the Human rushed forwards, he took Ithera's wrists into his hands and twisted them. Making Ithera drop his pistol, the human then put Ithera in chokehold. Then held a blade to Ithera's throat. He pulled out his sidearm and aimed it directly at my head. "Speak now, tell me where I am, and why you have dared to raise your weapon at me."

"Ithera, you idiot!" I yelled, but was unable to move out of fear that this Human may have the ability to shoot and kill me.

"Any more hostilities and both of you will cease to exist. Does the alien scum want to speak for your hostile actions?" The man in grey and white asked, speaking in an accent completely different from Kyle's.

I stepped forwards, tempted to flare my biotics. "Yeah. I'll speak to you alright. Ithera doesn't know your species, hell no one does. I've encountered one other Human, he's under my command right now."

The man kept Ithera in a chokehold, nearly breaking Ithera's bones. "Who is this other Human in existence?"

"Someone named Kyle Terrah," I said as I took a few steps forward.

The Human frowned, "Terrah... I was hired by a man to find and apprehend him. None the less, where am I?"

"You're on a space station, 18,000 light years away from the Galactic Core."

"Far away from home, huh? What year is it anyways?"

"November 7th, 2076."

"Considering the circumstances right now, the contract that I was hired to do is now irrelevant. Anyways, I would like to meet Kyle Terrah, see how he arrived here. Now, Ithera… I will release you if you promise not to be hostile towards me."

Ithera struggled and tried to get out of the Human's grip. Eventually Ithera gave up. "Fine, I promise."

The Human brutally pushed Ithera to the floor, and walked towards me. "Lead the way, blue lady."

I decided to bring him with me. "Alright, try not to kill anyone along the way. Also, what should I call you?"

"I am known as Vodnik, and I don't _try_ to kill."

I walked over to Ithera, and helped him up. Ithera glared at Vodnik and said, "You know, in my culture, it's pretty damn rude to try to kill a complete stranger."

"You presented yourself as hostile, so I disabled you."

Ithera scoffed, and Vodnik shot a glare towards Ithera that would scare off a Krogan. Clearly Vodnik was not supposed to be a person to mess with, but a very valuable ally. "So, do you two want to keep arguing, or do you want to follow me?"

"I'll follow you, Alien, but do not expect me to act as if nothing has happened. I'm watching you two."

"Good, now any other arguments can be settled on the way back to _Bermuda_ ," I said. _I really feel like I'm in care of children right now._

We started to walk back to the shuttle after the small dispute was dealt with, I couldn't help but wonder about the origins of this man. I decided I shouldn't ask for a while, because he didn't seem to trust anyone at the moment.

I noticed someone and two other people standing near my shuttle as I approached it. A purple Asari and two Turian bodyguards. I stopped in my tracks, knowing exactly who the purple Asari was. "Aria…" I breathed, and started to nervously walk towards Aria.

Aria turned around at the sound of my footsteps, I remained outwardly calm.  
Even though I was more nervous than a Varren encountering a Yahg on the inside. "Lyna Rilac, you show up at the weirdest of times," Aria smirked

"I get that a lot," I spoke with masked confidence.

"Do you mind explaining what the hell that thing is?" Aria asked, letting her two bodyguards approach Vodnik with raised weapons.

I took a step back, and looked at Vodnik, pleading for him not to start anything. "He's Human, a species a Justicar told me to pick up."

"Which Justicar? Also, does someone mind telling me how I never got word of this Human?"

"Justicar Samara sent me, and how the Human avoided your sensors is beyond me."

Aria narrowed her eyes. "And? What do you know of this species? I don't exactly like encountering vagabonds that have avoided detection."

"All I know is that if you threaten them, you'll be killed instantly. My suggestion is to call your guards off."

"I don't have time to deal with this Justicar you speak of."

I stared at Aria, the deadliest criminal on Omega. "Noted."

"Before I let you go, whatever secret that you and your crew are hiding. The information will come to me eventually, whether you like it or not," Aria pushed past me along with her two bodyguards.

Ithera let out a disappointed sigh. "Sorry about that, but it's a shame there wasn't any shooting involved. I really was wanting to test the Cryo Blast that came with my new Bluewire II omni-tool."

"I agree with this… Quarian. Their weapons were getting a bit too close for my liking."

I stared at Ithera and Vodnik with my mouth agape for a good 20 seconds. "Let's just get into my shuttle."

Ithera motioned towards the airlock with his Kessler I Pistol, where we then boarded my shuttle. I undocked the shuttle, and headed to the Omega Nebula Mass Relay, for a direct route to The Phoenix Massing. I contacted Kyle via Omni-tool, and told him of what I found.

His reaction was less than surprising. 'You really found another Human? Good to know I'm not the only one. Anyways, Xen and I have been working on blueprints for an FTL drive that doesn't utilize Element Zero. If our theory is correct, with the best engineering, we'll be able to invent a FTL drive that will be better than any current FTL if it works. See you on Aite.'

 **A/N: Hopefully everyone will like Vodnik and Ithera.**


	8. Chapter 8: Aite

**A/N: So, I figured out where the Aite 'colony' is going to be set up. I'm assuming everyone knows of the main Hammerhead zone for the Overlord mission is. The zone where the VI says something about the view. That place. For the people that don't know what location I'm talking about, please Google it.**

 **The Asari Shuttle is about 20ish meters in length. 15ish meters in width.**

Chapter 8:

Date: November 7th, 2076.

I greeted Lyna as she got off the shuttle, following close behind was Ithera. I saw my fellow Human sitting on one of the Levo-Amino crates, fiddling around with some type of knife. I approached the new Human, and sat down beside him. "Hey, what's your name?"

"My true name is one that few people know. For now, you can call me Vodnik."

I nodded my head as Lyna came behind me. "I didn't expect to see another human out here. It's quite surprising to say the least."

Vodnik let out a laugh. "You know, I was sent to find and apprehend you by Dave Hevin. That job doesn't seem to matter anymore."

"Yeah, well, now we have to stick together."

Lyna cleared her throat. "I think that we should start unloading some of the levo-amino and dextro-amino foods."

"I do not want to take orders from an alien," Vodnik stood up.

I leaned against one of the shuttle walls with a slight grin on my face. "Vodnik, you do know that they're friendly. Even if they are of another species."

"Define friendly."

"Friendly as in… uh… Well, they haven't killed us yet. They also kept me alive for about eight days."

Vodnik intensely stared at me. "The last time I encountered aliens, they experimented on me, changed me. If you really expect me to trust these things, think again."

With that, Vodnik walked off, shouldering Lyna as he walked past her. "Before you say anything, Lyna. Most of the people on Earth are assholes. My species wasn't very nice to each other, they were selfish. Only caring for personal gain."

"Well, in Vodnik's instance, it looks like he hates everyone," Lyna added, taking a Levo-Amino food crate out of her shuttle with biotics.

I took a Dextro-Amino food crate into my arms. "For all we know, he probably endured something life changing. Like loss of a life, or perhaps he was trained to kill from birth."

"That still doesn't give him any justice on acting like an ass to other species."

I sighed, "You know my story right, Lyna? Where I may be able to remember some things via mind meld. His story may be completely different. Perhaps he was subjected to the things I was, but remembers every single detail of it."

"I understand that, but he should be at least thankful to be off of Omega." Lyna said while picking another Levo-Amino crate up with her biotics.

"Whatever, we'll know more about him in due time." I commented, lifting a Dextro-Amino box up, "jeez, how much food did you get?"

"Enough to feed us for more than seven years."

I stopped in my tracks for a moment. "We should take about 25% of the food off of the Shuttle, leave the other 75% on it for the colony we'll set up down on Aite."

"That's what we're doing, Kyle."

I unloaded box after box for about 20 or so minutes. Lyna bought a lot of food to say the least. Eventually Lyna somehow got control of the intercomm. "WE'RE GOING PLANETSIDE ON AITE, EVERYONE PLEASE STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND GET YOUR ASSES DOWN HERE TO THE XER-21 SHUTTLE!"

"So, I assume you really like the sound of your own voice." I joked.

"You do know I'm the one in command here, right?" Lyna said, flaring her biotics.

I took a step back and decided to keep my comments to myself for the time being. Soon enough, Ithera, Xen, and Vodnik came out of the elevator. Vodnik pushed past the two Quarians, and swiftly walked up to me. Vodnik was carrying an AK 74 with extra magazines, a short sword, a knife, and a 1911 with more magazines.

"Do you mind telling me why we're going planetside?" Vodnik asked. He seemed fairly irritated, though I couldn't tell if that was his regular attitude, or something else.

"We're going planetside because we were ordered to." I said, trying to act like I wasn't intimidated.

Vodnik scoffed, "I already told you, I will not take orders from Aliens."

"Then consider the order coming from me, you're coming with us. Whether you like it or not," I held a stare with Vodnik, who said nothing and eventually got into the Xer-21 shuttle.

I walked towards Xen and Ithera. "Ithera, I believe we didn't get a proper introduction."

"No, we did not. Care to explain who you are, and what the hell you and that Vodnik guy are?" Ithera asked, he had an overly friendly attitude.

I leaned against another wall. "I'm Kyle Terrah, Human. In case it wasn't obvious enough, Vodnik is also Human. He's just not that nice to other species, or people in general. I arrived on Thessia in an air vehicle."

Ithera nodded, "Well, it seems you already know my name, I am on my pilgrimage. I was going to die on Omega, luckily your Asari friend saved me."

"I see, it is a pleasure to meet you, Ithera."

"Likewise."

Lyna looked at Ithera, Xen, and me from the shuttle's door, "We're waiting on you."

"Give me five minutes, I got to go get some of my belongings."

Lyna sighed, "Fine."

I walked towards the bridge where I would find my laptop and phone that Xen upgraded, both able to bring the _Bermuda_ into Aite's atmosphere safely. I put my phone into my pocket of the jeans that I had been wearing for qutie awhile, and my laptop into my swiss army backpack. Since my laptop would now charge through a wireless link from my Omni-tool, I had no use for my old charger.

I picked up my headphones, something that I told Xen not to upgrade, due to personal reasons. After that, I headed back down to where the others were waiting for me in the XER-21 shuttle. "You got everything you need, Kyle?" Lyna asked.

"I have what I need," I said while walking over to the shuttle's doors.

I walked into the shuttle and sat down next to Vodnik. Lyna and Ithera were sitting across from us. Xen then started the shuttle and remotely opened the _Bermuda's_ cargo bay doors. I felt a slight loss in gravity as we exited the _Bermuda's_ cargo bay. I took my laptop out of my backpack and powered it on. "You brought a laptop with you?" Vodnik whispered.

"Yeah, you know how I arrived here, right? I took most of my portable devices along with me." I replied to Vodnik.

I opened up my music folder and started to browse through it. "Ah yes, you went through the Bermuda Triangle because someone hurt your feelings. Anyways, do you have any classical music in your folder? If you do, I prefer Beethoven." Vodnik inquired as I was scrolling through my music folder.

"Sorry Vodnik, I don't have that. Most of my music consists of ambience, modern orchestral, and electronic music. Also, that's quite an awkward question to ask right now," I said, still looking for the song I wanted to play.

"What are you guys even talking about?" Lyna interjected.

Vodnik and I shared the same reaction, we both stared blankly at Lyna for a few seconds. I turned my laptop around, showing her the screen. "I'm browsing for music, and Vodnik asked if I had any music that came before the 1850's."

I finally found the song I wanted to play, _Hans Zimmer - Time (Madza Remix)_. I double clicked the song and decided to play it full at 34% volume inside of the shuttle. It wasn't too loud, or too quiet, but everyone could still hear it over the noise the shuttle was making. Vodnik reached over and took my laptop from my hands after a few minutes, "If you're going to play that, at least do the original version."

"We'll be planetside soon, I recommend packing your stuff up and getting ready for what we may find. Remember, this is an uncolonized planet, who knows what we'll find down there," Xen called from the cockpit.

I shutdown my laptop and put it back into my backpack. I looked over to Lyna, who was currently brandishing a Phalanx IV Pistol. Ithera held his Kessler I in his hand, while Vodnik calmly sat there with his AK 74 in his lap and his 1911 in his hand. "So, why does everyone have a gun out?" I wondered.

"We don't really know what we're going to find down there. Better to have a squad go out and secure the area. Take my AK 74, you'll be leading," Vodnik handed me his AK 74.

"Why am I leading? I have very little experience with guns. The only gun that I fired was back in 2009, and it was only a hunting rifle. Besides, I think Lyna would be a better leader." I put my opinions in.

"Kyle, I wasn't trained to be a leader. I was trained to be an Asari Commando in a squad led by Shiala. Then I was supposed to be put under Matriarch Benezia's order," Lyna told me, also giving Vodnik and Ithera a bit of backstory into her life.

Ithera shrugged, "I am still on my pilgrimage, not much else to it."

I looked towards Lyna, who got up from her seat, along with Ithera. Vodnik stood up as well, so Lyna motioned for me to stand up. I followed her order, and got out of my seat. It was a really good thing I bought the Overlord DLC and played it before I wound up on Thessia. I had a little bit of memory of Aite, due to me randomly screwing around in the Hammerhead. I chuckled at the memory of me running over every spacecow I could find.

My chuckling was noticed by everyone else, who gave me weird looks. After that, I felt the shuttle hit something, which almost sent me to the floorboard. "That wasn't the smoothest landing!" I yelled to Xen, who came out of the cockpit with a modified M-3 Carnifex heavy pistol.

Instead of the normal coloring that the Carnifex had, the red was replaced by purple. The top of the heavy pistol had a few blue crystal-like modifications. The bottom of the pistol was pulsating with bright orange lights. Xen walked past me and stood in the middle of the group. "Everyone should check their omni-tools, I scanned the area before we landed. I spotted a few synthetic life forms, they're probably Geth. Check your weapons and be ready to fight."

I cringed at the mentioning of the Geth. Eight days into my new life, and I'm already having to fight for my life. "Come on, we should probably hurry up and neutralize the Geth before they neutralize us."

I stepped out of the shuttle and took a breath of Aite's oxygen. Vodnik came out of the shuttle after I did, and so followed Xen, Lyna, and Ithera. I decided the best course of action would be to split up.

"Alright, we're going to split up into two teams. Vodnik and Xen, you're with me, we'll scout 500 meters northeast. Ithera and Lyna, you'll scout 500 meters northwest. After we're done, rendezvous at the waterfall directly ahead of us," I didn't know if my command was the best that I could have given.

Ithera and Lyna began to scout out to their destination. I started to lead Vodnik and Xen

away from the shuttle. The AK 74 that Vodnik gave me was heavier than I would have liked, but it would do the job against geth. _Didn't I read somewhere that slow traveling projectiles could bypass kinetic barriers? If so, then the bullets that Vodnik has could completely bypass the Geth's kinetic barriers._

As I approached a strange rock formation I heard a metallic growl, similar to the ones heard in the original Mass Effect. "Hold up, we may have hostiles around these rocks."

I silently moved around the rock, and came into contact with a lone Geth Platform. It jerked its head towards me and pulled out its weapon. It let loose a few clicks, and moved behind another rock jutting out of the ground. Xen put her hand on my shoulder, "Let me go ahead, I'll deal with it."

Xen moved ahead of me and Vodnik, her Carnifex raised. The Geth bolted out from behind the rock it was hiding behind and swatted Xen to the ground. I ran forwards with the AK 74 pointed directly at the Geth's chest. It took notice of me, and ran forwards, throwing me to the ground right beside Xen.

Something tore into my leg, I was not sure if it was a rock, a bush, or some type of sharp object. I felt the area around my leg get fairly warm, while my leg was letting out an unhealthy thumping feeling.

Everything seemed to slow down for me as I was thrown to the side. I watched Vodnik raise his 1911 and fire a couple of rounds into the Geth. As it rushed towards Vodnik, it was pelted by bullets. Holes appeared through the body of the Geth, and it started to malfunction. Vodnik took this as an opportunity, he took out his shortened blade and started to rush straight at the malfunctioning Geth. Vodnik held out his blade and penetrated one of the few holes he shot in the Geth. He twisted his blade, making the Geth fall to the ground and lose all functioning. The circuitry was exposed, giving Xen a clear shot as it fell to the ground. Xen held up her pistol and blind-fired from the spot she was lying at.

Xen's pistol let out a small whining sound, and built up a particle effect at the barrel of the weapon. The particles shot out of the barrel, forming a stream of 3 bullets. The bullets impacted the geth, vaporizing the thing entirely. I looked at where the Geth used to be, and where Vodnik was standing with his blade in the area that the Geth would have been. Xen was behind me, her pistol still in her hands. I felt a slight numbness in my leg, so I looked down.

My leg had a huge gash in it and was bleeding profusely. Xen noticed the gash in my leg, and activated her omni-tool. I felt a stinging sensation be injected into me and my whole world went black.

 _Five days after Geth encounter._

Date: November 12th, 2076. 5:20 P.M.

I woke up to a wooden ceiling, I looked around and noticed I was in a shelter of some kind. I heard voices outside, probably Lyna bossing Vodnik and Xen around. The AK Vodnik gave to me was sitting by my side, as well as a roll of bandages. I looked back down to my leg, where there were white bandages covering the gash that I had in my leg.

I hoisted myself up and out of the wooden structure. I saw Ithera walk over to Xen and hand her a tube, which she put into the ground. Vodnik and Lyna were over by the shuttle, making some sort of tool. I started to limp over to Xen, trying not to put weight on my leg. "So, does someone mind telling me how long I've been out?" I ask, still limping over to Xen.

"I see that you've finally awoken, that's good. Anyways, you've been out cold for about five days. The Geth we encountered was not normal, hence the gash into your leg," Xen told me as I leaned up against a rock to support my weight.

Ithera nodded, "Lyna and I had the same problem. Lucky for me, she had her biotics, I would have been killed if she wasn't there."

I limped over to Xen and Ithera. "Is there anything I could help you with?"

"You can help us by resting your ass over by the shuttle and getting yourself something to eat," Ithera ordered, then went back to whatever he was working on.

The sun beat down onto my body as I limped to the shuttle where Vodnik and Lyna were talking. "I do not think we should worry so much about colony supplies. What we should worry about is why those Geth were so tough to kill." Lyna appeared to be in an argument with Vodnik.

"The Geth are a matter of some concern, but while they are possibly planning attacks on us, we could be preparing."

"Preparing for what, exactly?" I said while limping over to them

Vodnik and Lyna looked over to me. "You should be resting," Lyna and Vodnik said at the same time.

Lyna exchanged a glance with Vodnik. "That was creepy, but nonetheless, you're in no condition to be up right now."

"A normal Human would probably die from the wounds that you went through, Kyle." Vodnik commented, moving over to me.

"I'm not a normal Human. Hell, you're not a normal human. We both went through genetic modification, dammit." I cursed and sat down on a rock that was behind the shuttle.

"You may have the same modifications as I do, but you don't have the same memories as I do. Do not try to compare me to yourself." Vodnik growled.

Lyna sat down beside me. "Let me talk to him for a second, Vodnik. Go cut down some more trees before it gets dark."

Vodnik scowled and disappeared from sight. Lyna put her arm onto my shoulder. "You know you were out for five days, right?"

"Yeah, Xen told me," I said, leaning back and almost falling off the rock.

"Well, we've built a few shelters. They're certainly not luxurious, but they do their job. We'll be set until 2083," Lyna described our current situation.

I chuckled, "So, I want to ask, how did the trip to Omega go?"

"Well, I came into contact with a fairly old friend after I was done with my errands."

I leaned back, "And who would that be?"

"Aria T'Loak, when I was in commando training a few centuries ago, I met her on Illium. She was running from some gang, I helped her get to safety."

 _I should have expected Lyna to encounter Aria. She probably knows about Humanity if Vodnik was with Lyna at the time._

"Lyna, was Vodnik with you when you saw your 'Aria' friend again?" I inquired while fixing my posture.

Lyna shrugged, "Yeah."

I put my head into my hands. "That's not very good."

"Why?"

"Let's just say, I don't want to become a widespread rumor."

Lyna got off of the rock. "Get something to eat, then you can start helping."

I pointed to my leg. "Can't lift anything if I'm still injured."

"I meant when you're healed, then you can help. Until then, get some rest."

I grabbed a food package from the shuttle, and sat down beside a tree. After I finished my food, my body shut down, forcing me into sleep.

" _YOU'VE SUCCEEDED SO FAR. I THOUGHT YOU WOULD HAVE GOTTEN KILLED BY THAT GETH. YET WITH YOUR DECISION TO SPLIT UP, YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE INJURED."_

" _So what? I still have a gash in my leg, probably the worst injury in my life."_

" _IF THAT WAS YOUR WORST INJURY, THAT'S PRETTY SAD."_

" _Usually I try not to get injured, but it seems that if I am going to be here. In this universe, I'm going to be injured beyond my imagination."_

" _NONETHELESS, YOUR FUTURE IS LOOKING GOOD. KEEP DOING WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND YOU'LL SUCCEED. HOWEVER, IF YOU FAIL, EVERYTHING YOU KNOW AND LOVE WILL BE DESTROYED BY THE REAPERS."_

" _I know the consequences if I fail, that's why I'm trying to not be injured as much."_

" _WITH THE HELP OF YOUR SQUAD, AND VODNIK. YOU SHOULD LIVE PAST THE REAPER WAR. IF VODNIK DIES, THINGS WILL NOT GO WELL."_

" _I always try my hardest."_

 **A/N: Chapters will probably be released every week or so. I don't really go by a schedule, so if a chapter is early/late, don't hate me for it. I aim for chapters to progress in word count as I go on. Though 8,000 words or so will be the max for each chapter, they will be written to mild perfection.**

 **Chapter nine or ten will have a jump in years. There will be small paragraphs explaining each year, say I was doing a chapter for 2081. There would be a couple of paragraphs on the situation at hand. Though if a major situation occurs, there will be a full length chapter of the situation.**

 **Year skips will stop occurring at 2180.**


	9. Chapter 9: Inusannon

**A/N: This chapter will be the start of the day/week/month/year skips. I also screwed up with the months, I skipped the month of October for some reason. Chapters will be fixed accordingly.**

Chapter 9:

Date: November 23rd, 2076.

Eleven days after the Geth incident, everything was getting better. Vodnik still didn't trust Lyna, Ithera, and Xen. Though he did have a small bit of trust in me, seeing as he let me keep his AK for defence. Vodnik and I were in progress of building a house, we had the base flooring completed on the 22nd.

Everyone else slept in the shuttle.

Date: December 4th, 2076.

Vodnik and I finished the first set of walls for the lodge we were building. Ithera went out from our colony late at night, he said he would return in the morning, as he was hunting for wildlife. The wildlife of Aite wasn't the most friendly, so Vodnik returned with many scratches on his body.

On December 5th, Ithera returned, dragging a space cow corpse behind him. The Dextro-Amino foods were running out due to Ithera's presence. Lyna and I both knew we would have to go back to Omega soon.

Date: January 1st, 2077.

About two months after we landed on Aite, we had a house that served as our primary shelter. Vodnik still had divide the house into rooms, letting us sleep in separate rooms. On January 11th, we created a showering system that utilized water from a nearby river for Vodnik, Lyna, and I. Before we built the showering system, we all used that nearby river to bathe.

Lyna went back up to the _Bermuda_ with Vodnik. They scanned the area for any Geth, but they found nothing except a comm buoy.

Date: February 29th, 2077.

I was sent a direct message to my omni-tool from Samara. 'Have you told Lyna about yourself yet?'

'No, I have not. She seems suspicious of me, though. I must tell her soon. Also, we have a few new people. Two Quarians, and another Human.' I sent a message back.

'I see. This new Human, does he know the things you know?'

I typed a message back to Samara. 'I don't believe so. If he does, he hasn't shown it yet. He's quite the racist towards aliens due to memories similar to mind that you saw in the meld.'

'Alright. Keep in contact. Message me every week or so.'

'Goodbye, Samara.'

Date: March 3rd, 2077.

Lyna was injured by a small animal. According to her, she was out looking for water when the small animal attacked her. The animal was about the size of a cat, Lyna had scratches all over her arms. She apparently called the animal a Pirie. I made the unfortunate joke of Lyna being bad with animals, she slapped me after that.

That night, we had Piries for dinner. Vodnik still refused to have a social conversation with anyone but me. I don't blame him though, he's probably been through more than me. He says his slovakian accent might compromise his identity to these aliens.

Date: July 15th, 2077, 6:23 A.M.

I woke up to a slap in the face, Xen stood beside where I was laying in a makeshift cot. "We need to go back up to the _Bermuda_ , I have a few things I want to talk to you about while we're there."

"You know, it's pretty damn rude to wake someone up by slapping them," I sarcastically replied to Xen.

"It's important. Lyna's awake, and she knows we'll be leaving." Xen gestured to the door.

I rubbed my eyes and slowly got out of my makeshift cot. "Fine."

Xen led me out of the house and into the Xer-21 shuttle. She then closed the shuttle's doors, and silently pushed me into the co-pilot's seat. "I'll explain my actions when we get on the _Bermuda_."

The whole shuttle ride was quiet, giving me the feeling that something bad was going to happen. When the shuttle automatically docked into the _Bermuda_ , Xen pulled me out of the shuttle by force.

She took my laptop from where it sat on one of the seats and turned it on. I saw her click through a few folders, where she eventually got to my pictures folder. She pulled up a picture which was of a Quarian. "Do you mind explaining to me why this picture is on your laptop?"

 _Oh shit… I didn't delete them from the recycle bin. She must have found these while I allowed her to try to create a tether between my laptop and my omni-tool._ "Yes, but you'll probably think I'm insane."

"I want you to explain to me why you have so many pictures of Quarians, Asari, and Turians on your laptop. I also want to know how long you planned to hide them from me."

I took a step back, only for Xen to get right up in my face. "I know more than I should."

Xen glared at me and started to reach for her modified Carnifex Pistol. She pointed the Carnifex directly at my forehead. "I will give you one last chance to explain. I don't care if it makes you sound insane. I want the truth."

I thought for a half a second for what I should do, I decided not to attack Xen, and instead solve the solution calmly. "There's more than one reason that Samara ordered us to go to Aite. I'm technically not supposed to be here, or even living right now. I made a dumb mistake, and now I'm paying the price for it. I know events that will happen in many years."

"What are you saying, Human?" Xen spoke through gritted teeth as she aimed her gun right at my forehead.

"I'm saying that I may have jumped dimensions. I know that you know I traveled through a dangerous place on my world and ended up on Thessia. That's half of the truth. If you'll allow me, I'll pull something up on my laptop."

Xen handed me my laptop with her gun still pointed at me. I turned on my laptop and opened Origin. I launched Mass Effect 2, which I stupidly forgot to delete, and loaded a previous save. One that put me directly onto Haestrom, I turned my laptop around and showed Xen the screen. "This right here is where I got my information. On my screen is Haestrom, somewhere in Geth operated space."

"You say that this is Haestrom. Tell me the year of this."

"The thing that is on my screen is based in 2185. In 2186, the whole galaxy will be destroyed if we do not prepare. That's why I'm here, to prevent mass extinction from happening."

"You're lying. There is no way that you have foreknowledge of galactic extinction events." Xen denied my knowledge.

"Oh it's quite possible. The Protheans were not the first to vanish. Neither did they create the mass relays, or the Citadel. In honesty, the Citadel is a giant mass relay that leads to dark space." I frowned.

Daro'Xen opened her omni-tool and started to scan through Aite. Eventually she looked over to me. "If my scanner is correct, there's an unknown ruin a few hundred kilometers from our colony. If there is information there, I'm taking it."

I shrugged and Xen put her gun away and walked back into the shuttle. I followed her, ready to start preparing for the Reaper War. Xen started up the shuttle, letting us exit the _Bermuda_ once again. Apparently when Xen suspects something, she finds the proof almost immediately.

"Xen, you know why I have to hide this stuff, right?" I was stressed out, Xen said nothing, and kept piloting the shuttle. "I have to hide this due to intergalactic security. If someone outside of our group gets this information, the results could prove catastrophic," Xen still wasn't speaking. "Daro, I know you're mad at me right now. I didn't want to hide this information, but I needed to make sure I could trust you."

"Trust? This isn't about trust, Kyle! I wanted to know why you lied to me, why you lied to all of us!"

"You think I like being taken from my world against my will?! Do you think I like being experimented on?! In 109 years, a war that will end all wars will take place! Trillions of people will die!"

"Then trillions of people need to know, trillions of people need to start preparing."

I was pissed off. "I'm not going to release this information. One Reaper is already out here, it's preparing for the arrival of the Reaper fleet. It probably has the Heretic Geth on it's side already."

"Heretic Geth? Kyle, what the hell are you talking about?"

I slipped up, great. "There's two types of Geth. One being the Heretic Geth, the ones that want to wipe out all life, and Geth that want peace with the Quarians."

Xen stared at me. "All Geth are killers nonetheless."

"You want proof, don't you? Tell you what, I'll go to Rannoch, bring a 'Friendly Geth' back."

Xen turned back to the control panels. "You want to take back the homeworld by constructing the treaty with the Geth?"

"I won't be taking you, for both of our safety."

Xen slapped me. "You're going to take me."

"Can you please stop slapping me! We're almost at this unknown site you speak of."

Xen shifted her focus back to the control panels, and started to prepare for the landing. When we landed, I heard a small pulsating hum outside of the shuttle. "This must be the place, open the shuttle's door." I said, moving towards the shuttle's doors.

Xen silently opened the doors, allowing me to exit the shuttle. I walked outside and immediately saw a large metallic structure an estimated kilometer away from where I stood.

Xen came out of the shuttle. "You lead the way, if there's any Heretic Geth inside of that structure, I'll provide combat support."

"Then what the hell do I do?" I asked.

Xen shrugged and pulled another pistol from a magnetic clamp on her suit. "You'll take point with this Phalanx."

I took the Phalanx from Xen, then started to plan walk into the brush. As I advanced towards the structure with Xen, the got louder.

"Yes, it's pretty annoying."

I shrugged and pulled out my phone, quickly taking a small video of the area to show the others. I put my phone back into my pocket, and signaled Xen to move forwards.

Ten minutes after walking, we arrived at the Prothean structure. "Xen, can you hack through this door?" I inquired.

"You act like I'm some novice at this. I'll be able to hack through it in five minutes. Until then, do whatever Humans do to pass time."

Some time later, Xen passed through the firewalls of the Prothean technology. "It's open, give me a moment to scan the area for any Geth Platforms."

Xen finished scanning the area with her omni-tool, and looked over to me. "I've found a synthetic life-form inside the structure. It doesn't look like a Geth, though."

"What else could it be?" I wondered, then a realization hit me. The synthetic life-form could be a Prothean Artificial Intelligence, "Xen, before we head in there, if it isn't a Geth, don't shoot it until proven hostile."

"Fine."

I walked into the structure, unsure of what I would find. I saw a few electronic panels as I passed through a hallway. The hallways were enormous, everything was dark as well. "Xen, do you have a light?"

"A light? I assume you mean a flashlight, not a lighter." Xen commented.

I silently glared at Xen for a few seconds. "Yes, I mean a flashlight."

"Yeah, I have a flashlight."

"Good."

I turned to one of the many electronic panels, and walked up to it. I started to type away on the paneling, and sorted through some data on what the archive contained.

 _Inusannon Homeworld. (Trivon)_

 _Location of Beacons. (Eden Prime, Feros, Noveria, Zafe, etc)_

 _Inusannon Relics. (Cher-43L, Veram, Retribution, Bira, etc.)_

 _Feros Armory._

 _Inusannon Commanders, Scientists, and Civilian cryo location. (Luxentar.)_

 _Artificial Intelligence research facility (Aite)_

 _Reaper War Intel (Aite, Mars, Thessia, Palaven)_

 _Supposed Location of Reaper Creation (Dark Space, 2181 Despoina)_

I waved Xen over to where I was typing on the console. "Here's some information."

"Reaper War Intel? What's that?" Xen asked, ignorant of the Reapers.

"The force that will wipe out all life in the galaxy if we don't find a way to stop it."

Xen started to say something, but was tuned out by the lights mysteriously turning on at the end of my sentence. "Well, that's odd," Xen mused, I could practically hear her smile.

"You don't say?" I sarcastically replied, then I started to head down the newly lit hallway.

The lights were colored purple. Every footstep I took echoed down the hallway, revealing more and more to me as a I went on. I came up on a large room, one with a console embedded into the wall. I stared at the console for a few seconds before walking up to it.

I activated my omni-tool, something which I hadn't done in a while. The omni-tool started to change from orange to yellow-green. The change alarmed me, but information was transferring to my omni-tool as I watched it happen. I saw a light activate through my peripheral, unsure of what it was, I turned to it. The light appeared to be a hologram of a supposed Inusannon wearing civilian clothes. The holographic Inusannon took a few steps towards me. "Human, you've reached out from your home planet so early. My creators estimated that you would leave 70 years from now." The Inusannon spoke in a way that boggled my mind.

"I was taken from my world by an unknown anomaly. I was experimented on by god knows what, and the same thing happened another of my kind. In 2015, I flew into the Bermuda Triangle on Earth. I most likely flew through a wormhole which took me from my world, but whatever it was, it sent me to Thessia of all places. Now I'm here," I growled as I circled the Inusannon hologram.

The Inusannon hologram blankly looked at me. "You are one of the few we encountered that phased into this dimension. When an unlikely occurrence happens in another universe, they are sent here for whatever reason. Your story matches someone's that came into this galaxy many years ago. She too compiled a team, her current location is unknown. Last documented sighting, three years ago."

"Then how the hell did she avoid being caught? Why are there no documented cases of Humanity if she was here before me?" I was confused, due to there being other Humans in the galaxy.

"There were few that found her, she had no knowledge of this universe. Where as you have been much more successful. She mainly was on one planet."

I was starting to loose my patience. "What was her name? Hell, what is your name?"

"Her name was Tiryn, Tiryn's last name was unknown. My designation is Sirius-928 Prothean Artificial Intelligence. You may call me Sirius."

 _Huh, the AI was named after the brightest star in the Earth's night sky._

"What do you know about the Reaper War? Where do I find your artifacts?" I continued circling Sirius as Xen entered the room.

Sirius blinked, "The Reaper War… You must start preparing for it. As for the artifacts, that information will come at a later date."

I crossed my arms. "I can't convince a council of idiots that an immortal doom is hiding behind the citadel relay. They'll probably deny the Reaper's existence when I would have solid evidence."

"Then allow me to transfer myself onto your omni-tool. I'm more than solid evidence. I will be able to help you along your journey, and perhaps convince this council of the Reaper threat." Sirius advised me.

I glared at Sirius, "The Council would execute me for even being Human. They'd shoot me on the spot if I took an AI with me, let alone a Inusannon one."

Sirius roamed over to a computer panel. "I can give you locations for Prothean and Inusannon artifacts throughout the galaxy. Artificial Intelligence, beacons, Citadel entry points, and much more if you allow me to come with you."

"I will not lie, having you beside me would prove to be an advantage. Tell you what, if the locations you give me turn out to be false. I will delete you." I had lost my patience with the AI.

"Kyle, is this what you found? An AI?" Xen came up to me, and gestured at the hologram with her pistol.

"Yeah, an 'AI. It's name is Sirius. It was created by a species that came before the Protheans, Xen. It wants to help us."

Xen put her pistol to my head. "You know damn well what my people experienced with Artificial Intelligence did to us. No AI is safe."

"Geth: Artificial intelligence made by Quarians to serve as slaves. Gained self conscious, scared the Quarians. Geth wiped the Quarians off their homeworld after a provoked attack." The Inusannon hologram butted in.

I slowly turned around to face Xen. "I'd appreciate you not putting a pistol to my head every five minutes, Xen."

"Do not trust this thing, it will wipe everything out just like the Geth. If it's Prothean, it could wipe out the entire Galaxy."

I laughed right at Xen's mask. Her ignorance was something I had never encountered, and it was quite funny. "The Inusannon didn't have that power. As I said before, they did not forge the Mass Relays, nor did they create the Citadel. Both the Relays and the Citadel are Reaper Technology. The worst the Inusannon could do is supernova a star, the Reapers on the other hand…"

"The Reapers will destroy everyone and everything in their path if we do not prepare." Sirius spoke for me, surprising Xen.

Xen lowered her pistol from my head, but she did not fully let go of it. Xen shifted her aim to Sirius. "Give me information on these Reapers," Xen demanded.

"Nazara, or Sovereign is in the galaxy gathering an army of Heretic Geth right now. When the time is right, it will attack the Citadel, and allow the Reapers to return from dark space." I added in for Sirius.

Sirius's hologram nodded. "The same thing happened to my people. If we do not prepare, everyone will suffer the same fate as every species before us."

Daro'Xen looked to me, then back to Sirius. "You must be joking."

"I'm not joking, these Reapers are more powerful than us. We must make a treaty with the Geth, we have to create other types of Artificial Intelligence. We'll take back Rannoch. We'll unite everyone in the galaxy if we have to."

 _And we must find alternate means of utilizing Element Zero. The EMDrive will allow us to eventually go faster than light. If we combine it with an Element Zero Drive, the results will triumph the Reapers._

Sirius put his holographic hand to my Nexus IV omni-tool. "I'm transferring my programming to your omni-tool. Expected time to completion: twenty seconds."

"Fine, have it your way, Kyle. Do not whine to me when that thing kills us all." Xen stepped back from Sirius and I.

I shrugged and turned my head back to Sirius. "Do not mind Xen, she can get a bit rude at times."

"Are you seriously talking bad about me to an AI?" Xen growled at me, she was losing her temper.

As I said that, Sirius's hologram faded away. My omni-tool let out a few orange flashes, and a bunch of warnings suddenly flashed up on it's holographic screen.

Intrusion detected. Allow intrusion; Y/N?

 _Yes, allow it._

Artificial Intelligence detected. Unknown Origin.

 _It's a Prothean AI. Stop freaking out._

Artificial Intelligence attempting to fuse with cybernetic implants on multiple internal organs including frontal lobe cybernetics. Cybernetic enhancements for mitochondria and aging process: Upgrading, 200% functionality as of July 15th, 9:22 A.M.

 _The origins are probably Inusannon, allow this._

Error. Internal components of omni-tool have been compromised. Artificial Intelligence has entered breached. Firewalls against Artificial Intelligence, unsuccessful. Probability of user death: 67.82%.

 _You're annoying. I'm allowing all of this to happen, shut the hell up._

' _Interesting implants, with my help I can repair them when they stop working. Your lifespan should be max out around 400 years, 100 years less than a Prothean's life-span. Your reaction time has been increased. Previously, it took you 200 milliseconds to react to certain events. I've had the implants cut that time in half.'_

 _That's useful, can you edit programs on my omni-tool?_

' _Yes, I can add programs as well. Overload, Incinerate, Sabotage, you name it.'_

 _That is great. Add overload to my omni-tool when you get the chance._

' _I can add Incinerate, Overload, Innusannon Shield Boost, and Sabotage right now.'_

 _I will accept these gifts as they come, but if you try to implement biotics into me, I will not accept that. I am perfectly fine as a normal human being._

' _I wasn't planning on adding biotics to your person.'_

 _Good, I do not want to be modified to where I'm not a Human anymore._

' _Even if I tried activating the Eezo nodes in your brain, you wouldn't be able to learn how to use biotics. Due to you being above age of biotic manifestation, of course. If you're really curious, the average age one has to be for biotic manifestation to occur is seven earth years.'_

 _Can you just transfer any codex files that you find to my omni-tool? I may get bored one day and start reading through them._

' _I have hundreds of codex files in my directory. I'll start the transfer when your omni-tool is offline.'_

 _Alright, can we finish this process? I'm assuming that Xen would start to panic if I stood still too long_

' _Ending main communication. Every thought you have is now shared with me through cybernetics installed on your brain.'_

 _Woah woah woah, every single thought? That's a bit creepy._

' _That is the only way everything will work, don't worry, I won't judge you for your opinions on things. Just think of me like a friend, who is always around you.'_

 _That's not any less creepy, in fact, that's even more creepy. Having another brain inside your brain._

' _Deal with it. Anyways, ending main sequence.'_

My omni-tool was now glowing bright green instead of the previous yellow-green. I looked over to Xen and smiled. "The process went well, when we get the chance, I'd suggest we hunt for Prothean artifacts."

"Yes, and I suggest you tell everyone about your true origins when we get back to the colony. Along with the fact that you now have a damned AI implanted into your omni-tool." Xen stressed her words out.

I shuffled in place. "Sirius isn't just in my omni-tool, it's in my cybernetics as well. I've officially been fused with Prothean technology."

"You let that thing fuse into your cybernetics? Are you insane, Kyle?!" Xen yelled at me.

"I could say the same thing about you. You're not exactly stable either." I insulted Daro'Xen, which was something that I wanted to do for quite a while.

"What you view as insane may be another person's definition for intelligent. In my book, you are the definition of insane."

I simply shrugged and sat down on the flooring. "You opinions are your own, and I will not contradict them. What I will contradict, is if you treat me differently because of my decisions."

"Too much has happened in a short amount of time. I just wish you would have told me of your true origins sooner." Xen sat down next to me.

I chuckled, "Not telling you was a hard decision to make. To be honest, I'm surprised you didn't find out in 2076 while repairing my laptop."

"I saw a picture of a ship called the _Normandy SR-2_ orbiting a garden world on your laptop. I didn't think much of it until now."

"Anyways, we should probably get back to the colony now. The others are probably worried," I said. I stood up from where I sat, and then helped Daro'Xen up.

' _Warning: Five synthetic platforms approaching our location. Recommend preparation for contact.'_

I stared Daro'Xen right in the eyes. "Sirius just said that five Geth platforms are approaching this room, we have to leave now."

A Geth platform entered the doorway and took aim at Daro'Xen. Time seemed to slow down for me just like the last time I was fighting a Geth. The Geth platform seemed to be holding a modified Geth Pulse Rifle. The Geth shot a few rounds out of it's Pulse Rifle, which headed directly at Xen. I tried to pull her out of the path of the incoming projectiles, but I was too late. Her kinetic barriers blocked all of the rounds but one. The single round tore through her suit, impacting her thigh, and making her cry out in pain.

"XEN!"

 **A/N: I didn't want this chapter to end peacefully, since it was such a hard chapter to write.**


	10. Chapter 10: Polonium

**A/N: I found out that the symbols I used to for messaging sequences did not work with fanfiction. From now on, messages will contain brackets instead of greater than and less than signs.**

Chapter 10:

Date: July 15th, 2077, 9:45 A.M.

I pulled out the Acolyte, and tried to shoot the Geth right in it's flashlight eye. I missed a couple of shots due to my inexperience in combat. Out of the six shots that I fired, two shots hit the Geth in it's shoulder and chest. The Geth responded by shooting at me, all of its bullets flew right past my face.

I looked around the room, trying to find cover so I wouldn't suffer the same fate as Xen. I hoisted Xen over my shoulder and ran behind a nearby computer panel. I sat Xen down so I would have a bit more mobility. "You're going to be okay Xen. Do not worry."

Xen shook her head for a reply. "I'll deal with i-"

I was cut off by a collage of plasma hitting the computer panel. A red hot orange circle appeared in front of my face. I stuck my head out of cover to shoot at the Geth, but another collage of plasma flew right past my head. _Oh shit. This is not good._ _This really is not good._

I stuck my head out of cover, while the computer panel that I was using for cover was melting due to the heat of the plasma that the Geth was using. I fired off a few shots towards the Geth, three of those shots took down the kinetic barriers of the Geth before my Acolyte overheated.

I threw the Acolyte to the side, as it would take eight seconds for the pistol to cool down before I could use it again. Eight seconds that I didn't have time to waste. I activated my omni-tool as I stood up out of cover. "Take this you vile synthetic beast!"

 _Sirius, overload that Geth's systems!_

An electric flow shot out of my omni-tool and hit the Geth in its lower thigh. The Geth dropped its weapon to the floor while it was being overloaded. I rushed over and grabbed the Geth's gun, and jabbed the weapon right into its abdomen. I held the trigger down, injecting plasma right into the geth's central motherboard.

The Geth platform fell forwards as a last attempt to kill me. I lept out of the way before the thing fell down ontop of me and crushed every bone and organ inside of me. As a response I put about ten bursts of plasma into the Geth Trooper. I heard a voice in my head. ' _It's dead.'_

I rushed back over to aid Daro, and kneeled beside her. ' _Polonium detected in suit breach. Recommend eliminating the remaining Geth before medically attending to Daro'Xen's wounds.'_

 _Does this structure have a medbay?_

' _Yes, but one Geth Platform is in the hallway interconnecting this room and the medbay.'_

 _I can deal with them._

"Daro, I'll need you to remain calm. I need to go get you medical supplies, take the Acolyte to defend yourself in the meantime." I told Daro'Xen as I sat her down near a wall.

She weakly nodded her confirmation, so I handed her the Acolyte pistol that was lying a foot away. I got up and lightly jogged over to the doorway that interconnected the medbay to the room that I was in.

I estimated that the medbay was about 100 meters away from where I stood. The Geth that Sirius told me about were marching to where I was currently at. The single Geth platform was a Geth Trooper.

I activated my tactical cloak and lightly jogged towards where the Geth was. I made sure that my feet made little to no noise. I passed the Geth platform, turned around, and activated my omni-tool. I sent out an overload at the Trooper, and then thrusted Xen's T-21 Qunari into the Geth's head. I charged the Qunari up, and let out a fully charged shot into the Geth's head. It froze in it's tracks and fell to the ground, it fell to the ground with smoke gushing out of it's core.

After I eliminated the Geth platform, I broke into a full on sprint to the medbay. As I approached it, my omni-tool pinged, signalling that I got a message from Lyna. '[Kyle, where are you and Daro'Xen? Fifteen minutes ago, the Geth started to attack.]'

 _Sirius, send a message back to Lyna. '[Xen and I are in the same situation inside a Inusannon structure.]' Also, what types of medication should I get from this medbay?_

' _Get a tube of Omni-Gel, Medi-Gel, and antibiotics.'_

 _Alright, do you have anything that will treat the Polonium?_

' _We have ingredients for Dextro-Amino Polonium exposure, I'll need you to mix a few things and give it to Daro'Xen. You'll need to inject the mixture into her neck to avoid the Polonium spreading to the brain.'_

 _So how the hell will I be able to it inject it into her neck?_

' _You'll have to take her to the decontamination room in the medbay. Bring her into it and await for further instructions after you eliminate the remaining geth platforms.'_

I entered the medbay, it was a bit bigger than a standard room. There were shelves and cabinets scattered around the medical bay, all filled with medical supplies. The was one thing that stood out of the open, a shelf was filled with many vials of odd liquids. I didn't have time to inspect the liquids of unknown origins, but I made a note to examine them at a later date.

I saw a few things that would be key to Xen's survival. I grabbed what I needed first, the omni-gel, medi-gel, and the antibiotics. I put both of the medical supplies into my pockets. I saw something on a nearby wall, it looked a Particle Rifle and an Adas Anti-Synthetic Rifle combined into one weapon.

' _That's a Anti-Synthetic Atomic Particle Concentrator, it should work well against Geth.'_

I took the ASAPC down from the wall, and heard a few clicks behind me. I turned around to see the two remaining Geth platforms, both of which were Geth Troopers. They were both marching right towards me. I hoisted the ASAPC up to my shoulder. I looked through the scope, and aimed at the nearest Trooper's center-mass.

I quickly let out a few short bursts from the ASAPC, a single beam hit the Trooper. I got the amazing idea to spray and pray, I held the trigger down for a few seconds and nothing happened. I heard a small whine emitting from the ASAPC, the whine was becoming louder as I held it down.

I let go of the trigger and all I heard was a loud boom. The ASAPC flew out of my hands and clanked against the wall behind me. Both of the Geth were nowhere to be seen, or so I thought. One of the Geth's arms fell from the ceiling and landed right in front of me. I jumped back, as I was confused as to what happened.

I shook the confusion off, and regained my senses. I ran back to the place where the ASAPC flew against the wall behind me and picked it up. I started to run back to where Xen was. As I ran, I threw the ASAPC to the ground to boost my mobility. ' _I do not recommend throwing the ASAPC to the ground, no matter the circu-'_

 _Shut up. Right now I do not care about anything else but Daro'Xen._

I entered the room, where I saw Xen slumped up against the wall where I left her. I sprinted over to her, and took an antibiotic injection out of my pocket. _Sirius, where do I inject this?_

' _Where the projectile impacted her thigh.'_

I unscrewed the cap that concealed the needle used for injection. I stabbed her thigh with the needle, a display came up from the top of the syringe.

 _-Administer 50mg, or 100mg?-_

I selected the option to inject 100mg of antibiotics into Xen's body. I heard a slight hiss, the hiss let me know that all of the antibiotics had been injected. After that, I took out the Medi-Gel. ' _Do the same thing that you did with the antibiotics, do not inject it though. Apply the gel over the wound for it to heal.'_

I did as Sirius said, while I was applying the Medi-Gel, Xen weakly looked up at me. "You need to get out of here to help the others."

"They can wait, I refuse to let you die here." I grunted, and took the Omni-Gel out of my pocket.

Xen shook her head, "You won't be able to treat me. You're too late. High dosage of Polonium."

"You're not going to die. We're in a Inusannon structure with Inusannon medical technology, you'll be fine." I quickly assured Xen.

"You're lying. You're just trying to make me feel better before I die." Xen was speaking in a strained voice.

I picked Xen up off the floor and lifted her arm over my shoulder. "You can walk, right?"

"I just got shot in the thigh. I'm not going to be able to walk." Daro took a sharp breath in and let the Acolyte slip out of her hand, and clatter onto the floor.

"Uh, Yeah. I should have thought that question through. I'm not going to be able to carry you, you'll have to lean on my shoulder."

I leaned Xen against my shoulder and I took a step forward. Xen hopped forwards and cringed in pain. "I really don't think this will work, Kyle."

"Ignore the pain, the Inusannon medical bay is right down the hall." I reassured Xen, and started to step forwards again. Xen stumbled forwards as she lost her balance trying to hop along.

I put my right arm around Daro's waist, I felt awkward doing it. It was a much longer walk with Xen using me as a crutch. My omni-tool pinged again, this time it was Ithera. '[What's taking so long?]'

 _Sirius, send a message back to Ithera. [Xen was shot by a Polonium tipped projectile, I'm having to treat her wounds inside a damned Inusannon structure.]_

' _Message sent. When you start preparing the anti-toxin for Daro'Xen, I suggest you follow every single word that I say. Otherwise, you will fail, and Daro'Xen will die.'_

I didn't reply to Sirius, instead I focused on getting to the med bay as soon as possible. I stepped over one of the intact Geth corpses that I killed with Xen's T-21 Qunari. As I entered the med bay, I carefully sat Xen down next to another wall.

 _Alright, tell me what I need to do, Sirius._

' _Go to the shelf on your left, find the vial labeled 'Phentro-Compound 19'.'_

I quickly walked over to the shelf and I started to scour for the vial that Sirius mentioned in my head. I finally found the vial, I placed the PC19 onto a nearby counter.

' _Turn back to the shelf, find another vial with the label of 'Dextro-Radium 225'.'_

I turned to the shelf again, still unsure of what I was doing. After a minute, I found the Dextro-Radium-255, I put it on the counter next to the PC19.

' _Good, now there's a freezer to the right of the shelf. If my databases have been correct for the past 100,000 years, there should be nerve stimulation injections inside of it. Grab two of them.'_

I swiftly walked over to the freezer. Before I could lay a hand onto it, the freezer opened up and almost smacked me in the face. I took two of the nerve stimulation injections out of the freezer, and bolted back to the counter.

' _Empty everything you have in front of you into an empty antibiotic injector that you have in your pocket.'_

 _Are you seriously suggesting we use a used needle on Xen?_

' _Inusannon antibiotic injections do not work the same as 2015 Human disposable needles. In the Reaper war we had to recycle needles, as disposable ones became very costly.'_

I shook my head and emptied the PC19, DR255, and the nerve stimulation injections into the antibiotic syringe. I studied the multi colored syringe for a few seconds before laying it back onto the counter. I walked over to Xen and picked her back up, then grabbed the syringe again.

 _Alright Sirius, where's the decontamination room?_

' _There should be the decontamination chamber 45 degrees to the left from where you are facing now.'_

I faced the decontamination chamber, which Sirius opened for me. I entered the chamber with Xen, where the chamber shut behind me. I sat Xen down like I had down a few times before.

' _There should be a small port at the back of Xen's neck. Find a small hole in it to inject the mixture into her neck.'_

I carefully inserted the needle into Xen's neck, as I did that, I heard a mechanical voice. "Decontamination in progress, standby for further instruction."

The Decontamination lasted for all of five seconds before Sirius spoke in my mind again.

' _Inject the mixture into the internal carotid artery.'_

I carefully placed the needle into Xen's internal carotid artery. I injected all of the chemicals right into her bloodstream, and hoped that Sirius's advice would work. I put trust into Sirius, I hoped he wouldn't betray it by having me poison Daro'Xen.

 _Sirius, will Xen be stable?_

' _Not for long, you increased her survivability by eight days. If we do not attempt to get her back to her people in that time frame, your friend will die.'_

 _Shit. Send a message to Ithera and Lyna. [I need to go to the Migrant fleet to get Xen immediate medical attention.]_

' _Message sent, I recommend we get back to your method of transportation as soon as possible. I also recommend grabbing that ASAPC on your way out.'_

I pulled the needle out of Xen's neck and picked her back up. I put Xen's unconscious body onto a stretcher before I exited the decontamination chamber. I headed for the exit of the structure while pushing Xen in her stretcher. As I pushed her along, I picked up the ASAPC that I carelessly threw to the ground. I walked past the computer panels that I found 30 minutes ago.

It was sad to think that my day went from telling Xen about my true origins, to her getting shot by a polonium round. I approached the exit of the structure and all the lights shut off as I walked out of the structure. The door shut behind me, leaving the structure looking as if no one was there.

' _Do you know how to pilot these shuttles?'_

 _No, Daro was my pilot, as no one else knew how to pilot a shuttle._

' _Very well, I can integrate into the shuttle's systems for a few hours. I can also give you a tutorial on how to pilot a shuttle.'_

 _Give me the tutorial when I enter the shuttle._

I entered the shuttle, and pulled Xen into the shuttle along with the stretcher. I didn't care about anything but getting Daro'Xen the medical attention she needed. I didn't care about Ithera, Lyna, or Vodnik, which was rare for me. Usually I cared for all of them, but right now, those feelings were out the airlock.

I sat down in front of the holographic display panels. I was ready for Sirius to start barking orders into my head, I didn't have much choice in the matter anyway. _Alright, you may begin the tutorial._

' _It's not a tutorial, I've already wired into this shuttle's systems. Sit back and relax, let me to the piloting.'_

My omni-tool pinged, informing me that Lyna sent me a message. '[We defeated the Geth, Ithera told me that Xen was shot. I also got your message that you would be heading to the Migrant fleet. Good luck finding it, better luck entering it.]'

Send a message back to Lyna. [Keep the colony safe from any Geth attacks. If worst comes to worst, I'll message Samara.]

Sirius guided the shuttle to the _Bermuda_ and it piloted the shuttle into its cargo bay with ease. I exited the shuttle, and opened my omni-tool. I pulled up a tab to start messaging Samara.

[Samara, we were attacked by Geth, Daro'Xen was shot by a Polonium round. I'm unsure about what happened to everyone else, though I assume that they are fine. As of July 15th, 2077, I'm heading to the Migrant fleet.]

I received a reply back from Samara. '[You should return back to Aite when Xen is back to full health. I can be at Aite in a few days.]'

[That would be nice. Xen has eight days to live if I don't get her medical attention soon, I can talk to you later.]

'[Goodbye, Kyle.]'

I closed my omni-tool and headed for the bridge of the ship. I stopped in my tracks for half a second.

 _Sirius, if you can, find a relay that has had heavy traffic in the last few days._

' _The Pylos Nebula has seen as much as 50,000 ships entering the Nariph system. The ships then were reported heading for the Satent system.'_

 _That must be the Migrant Fleet. How long would it take to get to the Pylos Nebula?_

' _Five and a half days without potentially killing us. This ship should be similar to the shuttle in terms of piloting.'_

I sat down into the Pilot's chair for the first time, it wasn't that comfortable to be honest. I adjusted myself in the chair and cracked my knuckles. I knew this was going to be a long five days of sitting around and doing nothing.

I felt the _Bermuda's_ engines spark to life, and Sirius turned the _Bermuda_ away from Aite, and made a short FTL jump out of the system. The jump took about ten minutes, when we exited the system, it engaged FTL, and waited to arrive at the Nariph system.

Date: July 16th, 2077.

I received a message from Lyna. '[When will you be back?]'

This time, I actually could respond without the help of Sirius. [I don't know, but Samara will be at Aite in a few days.]

Lyna wasn't very quick to respond, infact, it took her 2 hours for her response to reach me. In those two hours, I spent my time browsing the extranet. I found it quite amusing that there were alternatives to Google, and other websites. The alternative to google was ironically called Ruukel.

When Lyna finally responded, it was only one word. '[Fine.]'

Date: July 17th, 2077.

I put the _Bermuda_ into auto-pilot to go check on Xen. Sirius and I ran a few scans on her body. True to Sirius's estimation, the chemicals I injected into Xen's neck were holding their own against the Polonium. Sirius told me that she wouldn't gain consciousness until she gained proper medical attention from her people.

Date: July 18th, 2077.

I received a distress call from a crashing Batarian ship. Sirius wanted to go help them, but we didn't have enough time. Neither did I want to help the Batarians. I had Sirius run a scan on the distress call, sure enough it was just bait for a pirate ambush.

Date: July 19th, 2077.

We exited FTL and arrived in the Tassrah system. Sirius made a short jump to the system's Mass Relay

Sirius put the _Bermuda's_ engines to full thrust and approached the Mass Relay. I felt Sirius spin up the FTL Drive as the final approach was set. I saw blue electrical flashes engulf the _Bermuda_ , it was similar to what happened when I went through the Bermuda Triangle. The _Bermuda_ shook, and Sirius activated the FTL drive.

I felt the _Bermuda_ jolt as Sirius propelled us thousands of light years to the Pylos Nebula. The _Bermuda's_ FTL drive deactivated automatically as I entered the Pylos Nebula. Sirius then piloted the ship out of system.

Date: July 20th, 2077.

We exited FTL as we arrived in the Satent system. The _Bermuda's_ sensors locked onto the Migrant Fleet's location, which was about 747 million kilometers away. I rushed back down to the shuttle where Xen was resting. I shook her sick body awake, where she weakly put her hand onto my wrist.

"Kyle, where are we?" Daro'Xen mumbled, weakness was trailing in her voice.

I calmly took Xen's hand off of my wrist. "We're near the Migrant Fleet. What is the phrase that allows you to return to your fleet?"

"After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and shoals of dust, I will return to where I began." Xen was consumed by sleep shortly after she finished speaking.

 _Did you get that recorded, Sirius?_

' _Yes, I'll be able to play it to the Migrant fleet so they do not fire upon us.'_

 _Good._

Sirius made a short jump so we would arrive 100,000 kilometers away from the Migrant fleet. 100,000 kilometers wasn't that far away. Immediately after I made the jump, I received a hail from the Migrant Fleet. "Dystopia Class Corvette, our sensors have you flagged as Asari Republics. State your intentions immediately."

"After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and shoals of dust, I will return to where I began." Xen's recorded voice was played to the traffic controller.

There was a short pause from the Migrant Fleet. "Your access is verified. Please dock with the Vertilex until further orders."

Sirius configured the guidance system of the _Bermuda_. I exited the bridge and made my way towards the shuttle that Xen had been resting in for the past few days. In the shuttle, I had the ASAPC that I picked up from the Inusannon structure. I walked towards Xen, who had fallen fast a sleep due to the polonium retaking effect.

I picked Xen up and put her onto the stretcher, I also picked up the ASAPC. I decided that the ASAPC would be a good gift to the Quarians if they successfully stopped the polonium. I heard a mechanical noise outside of my ship, which appeared to be the docking process of the _Bermuda_ with the _Vertilex_.

I grabbed an Asari breathing mask that was in the shuttle, put it on, and headed for the airlock. When I arrived, the airlock opened, revealing four Quarian marines all aiming assault rifles and shotguns at me.

 **A/N: I finally got this chapter done, it was very difficult to write with combat, and with Xen slowly dying due to polonium.**


	11. Chapter 11: Myriad

**A/N: Coming up with Quarian names takes up most of my time. Two very complex words taken from a dictionary then put into an anagram, nar/vas, and another random scrambled word off of a dictionary.**

Chapter 11:

Date: July 20th, 2077. 5:29 Migrant Fleet Standard Time.

"That isn't a very nice way to greet someone," I said, and looked over to the medical personnel behind the Quarian marines.

One of the Quarian marines with an assault rifle slightly lowered his weapon. "What the hell are you and how are you speaking Khelish?"

I was really getting tired of people asking me what species I was and how I was speaking their language. "I'm a heavily modified Human to answer both of your questions. We can talk about this later, though."

One of the medical Quarians pushed past the group of marines. "I'm sorry about the behavior of my marines, but you must understand that we do not usually let outsiders into our home."

"My focus is on Daro'Xen's healing process right now. We can talk after Daro is stabilized."

The medical officer nodded. "Follow me."

I was led down a series of hallways by the medical officer. I got a lot of strange looks from Quarians as I was lead towards the medbay. The marines that were 'oh so friendly' followed me, making sure I didn't make any sudden movements.

"So, Human, how was Daro'Xen nar Epsio shot?" The medical officer asked.

"Long story short, Daro and I were investigating an Inusannon structure on an uncolonized planet. We were caught in a surprise Geth attack and I wasn't quick enough to pull her out of the way of the bullet. Also, call me Kyle," I answered the medical officer.

One of the marines behind me spoke up. "Where were you at the time of the Geth attack? What is an Inusannon?"

I sighed. "The Inusannon were the species that came before the Protheans. As for my location, I was in the Typhoon system of The Phoenix Massing. I have strong beliefs that a Geth superstructure lies in The Sea Of Storms."

Everyone went silent as we entered the main medical wing of the Vertilex. I laid Xen onto an operating table, then two Quarian doctors approached me. "Please leave this room until further notice. Our marines will keep you company as we work on Daro'Xen nar Epsio."

"Alright, how long will the procedure take?" I asked as I was ushered out of the room.

"Three days. Until then, you can meet with the Admiralty Board."

I nodded my head. "Sounds good."

I exited the medical room, where I was led to a shuttle by the same Quarian marines that I had met earlier. The shuttle that I was led to wasn't that much bigger than my Xer-21 shuttle.

 _Sirius, should I tell the Quarian Admiralty Board about the Reapers?_

' _I suggest that you let me do that.'_

 _I don't think that's a very good idea, the Quarians absolutely despise Artificial Intelligence._

' _Then I will disguise myself as a Virtual Intelligence.'_

 _That won't work very well either, they absolutely hate any form of synthetic life._

' _Too bad.'_

 _I can tell you're not going to move away from this topic, so I have a request for you._

' _What would that be?'_

 _I want to give the Admiralty Board the ASAPC to strengthen relations with them._

' _What you do with your weapons is beyond my jurisdiction.'_

 _Good._

I severed the link with Sirius, it was something that I had learned in the past 24 hours. A female Quarian marine was staring at me as I severed the connection with Sirius. I held a blank stare with her for about five seconds. "Is there something on your mind, Quarian?"

"Your eyes glowed bright purple for a minute," She murmured.

"It's probably my Inusannon implants acting up. Don't worry about it," I hypothesised, and looked out the shuttle's window. It appeared that we were approaching one of the Quarian liveships.

 _Sirius, what did you do to my eyes?_

' _I didn't do anything.'_

 _Then why the hell were they glowing purple._

' _From what I can tell, it's a side effect of me interfacing with you directly in your head.'_

 _Interesting, we'll research it later. Right now, we have a job to do._

The female Quarian marine studied me. "That's not very normal, moving onto another topic, I've wanted to ask you something ever since you came aboard the Vertilex."

"I'll answer your question if you answer mine. What is your name?" I leaned back, and crossed my legs.

The Quarian pointed to the ASAPC. "My name is Lera'Gerrel vas Vertilex. On a side note, what is that thing?"

 _That's surprising, I didn't expect to meet a sibling of Han'Gerrel yet… Or maybe Lera'Gerrel is his mother, and Han'Gerrel might be on his pilgrimage since Daro'Xen was._

"It's an Anti-Synthetic Atomic Particle Concentrator. I have reason to believe that it was used by the Inusannon during the Reaper war," I slipped up, and mentioned the Reapers too early.

I nervously looked at the Lera, who gave me a confused expression. "Reaper war? What the hell-"

Lera was cut off by the shuttle docking with the liveship. "Your questions will be answered in the meeting."

I got up from where I sat, and the marines escorted me out of the shuttle. I felt as if I was a prisoner inside the Migrant Fleet, the stares that I got were not welcoming. The way I was treated made me feel like I was unwanted, I was an outsider to the Quarians. Though I would not let my emotions get in my way during the meeting.

I was led into a private room, where five Admirals stood. The room was fairly large for Quarian standards, it seemed to be 7 meters in both length and width. Two of the Admirals were females, the other three were male. I put the ASAPC on a table so I wouldn't look hostile.

 _Sirius, should I add 'vas Bermuda' as an extension on my name to abide by Quarian culture?_

' _I believe that would be a good idea.'_

 _Thank you._

I looked to the floor, then back up to the Admirals. "Admirals, I am Kyle Terrah vas Bermuda, a part of the Human Race. I would like to know your names before we get into more sensitive matters."

One of the male Admirals that was wearing a black and silver environmental suit spoke up. "I am Kapo'Xen vas Epsio. Admiral of the Technological Advancement Branch of the Migrant Fleet."

 _That's good and bad. On the good side, he'll appreciate the ASAPC. On the bad side, he may blame me for Daro'Xen getting injured._

"I am Nuite'Valik vas Qwib-Qwib. Admiral of the Civilian Fleet, and captain of this ship." Nuite'Valik was a female Quarian who sported a white and olive drab suit.

I laughed at the name of the Qwib-Qwib, something that was always funny to me. I earned a few masked stares from the other Admirals, so I quickly came up with a lie. "Sorry, the Qwib-Qwib means something else in my main language."

' _What exactly does the Qwib-Qwib mean in your language?'_

 _I lied, the Qwib-Qwib is just a hilarious name._

' _Your sense of humor is similar to that of a child.'_

 _You insult me, my sense of humor is perfectly normal._

"Moving on, my name is Ferryn'Artrem vas Moreh, Admiral of the Special Projects and Research Branch."

"Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, youngest Admiral of the Migrant Fleet."

 _Shala'Raan? That's odd, every other admiral from the 2180s are on their pilgrimage. I would guess that she returned with something extremely valuable._

"Jelek'Hetavin vas Neema, Admiral of the Heavy Fleet."

I stared at everyone that was before me, only two names were of major importance to me, Kapo'Xen and Shala'Raan. Both of the reasons were pretty obvious. I knew Shala'Raan from the games, and Kapo'Xen was directly related to Daro'Xen.

"Before I say anything, I would like you all to know a little bit about me. I am one of the few Humans that have actually gone outside of Sol. My body has been heavily augmented with Inusannon and Prothean technology. I can speak almost any organic language in the galaxy, and I know more about the galaxy and it's cycles than any other person," I told the Admirals.

"You willingly augmented yourself with synthetic material that no one in the galaxy has any knowledge about! Are you crazy?!" Ferryn'Artrem yelled directly at me.

I frowned at Ferryn. "Your accusation is completely false. For one, I didn't willingly augment myself, I was forcefully augmented as a Inusannon/Prothean test subject. Secondly, people in the galaxy know of this technology, granted there are very few of them."

"You claim to have all of this knowledge about us, do you have any proof to back up this claim?" Kapo'Xen inquired.

 _Sirius, are you ready to tell the Admiralty Board about the Reapers?_

' _Yes, I will appear through your omni-tool's projection port.'_

"My VI will give you the proof that you need." I told Kapo'Xen vas Epsio.

Shala'Raan shook her head. "Virtual Intelligences are not allowed in the fleet if they were made outside of our home, they pose a security risk that we cannot afford."

"Deal with it, I didn't travel 25,000 light years just to be shot down by a Quarian that is afraid of her shadow." I bluntly replied, and opened my omni-tool.

Lera came up behind me and tried to restrain me, but it was already too late. Sirius had connected to my omni-tool's display, and it looked at the admirals. "Kyle Terrah, do you have any inquiries for this session?"

"Shut that damn thing off." Jelek'Hetavin yelled and pointed at me.

Sirius was slightly taller than me, and it completely ignored Jelek Heaven's orders. That being said, I was 1.9 meters tall, or 6.4 feet tall. "I do not sense the foul taint of Reaper Indoctrination upon any of you. Estimated years before Reaper arrival: 103 to 109 years. Recommend telling any active governments to start preparation. Current galactic readiness is at 5%."

"Reaper? What the hell is a Reaper?" Ferryn'Artrem asked as she approached Sirius's hologram.

Sirius pulled up a purple screen from my omni-tool. The screen displayed the Reaper armada and all it's information. "Reaper: Synthetic lifeforms capable of wiping out all life in the Galaxy. Ranging from 150 meters to two kilometers long, they are sentient weapons of mass destruction. Estimated size of Reaper armada: 5,000,000 capital ships, 10,000,000 destroyers."

Ferryn backed up a bit. "That's a bit far-fetched, synthetic beings that can wipe out all life in the galaxy? That myth is absurd, how can you expect me, or any of the other admirals to believe this crap?"

"You would be an idiot not to believe this, the same thing happened to the Protheans, the Inusannon, and every civilization before us." I told Ferryn, and broke free of Lera's attempts to restrain me.

Kapo looked back to Shala'Raan. "You don't actually believe this guy, do you?"

"Not at all, but I want to hear more before we space him."

Sirius pulled up a panel from my omni-tool. "If you do not believe our initial proof, have one of your scout ships travel to Nataisa. There is a dead Reaper corpse in orbit or the gas giant."

Jelek'Hetavin pulled up his omni-tool, and contacted one of his ships. "Jelek'Hetavin to the Alijak, please investigate the orbit of Nataisa. We have someone claiming that there is a ship's corpse in the orbit of the gas giant."

"Roger that, I'll put up a live feed for you."

Every other admiral slowly approached Jelek'Hetavin to look at what was being displayed on his omni-tool. The omni-tool displayed the Quarian ship approaching Nataisa at a very high speed. A few seconds later, it entered the orbit of the gas giant.

The Quarian ship rotated around the orbit of Nataisa, before coming up upon something huge. "Ajilak to Jelek'Hetavin, we have come across a... structure of some sort. This thing does not look like anything that I've seen before."

The Reaper corpse was much larger than it was in the games. The whole thing completely dwarfed the Quarian ship, and made it look like an ant. I was terrified of the Reaper, I was not looking forward to the 2180s.

Sirius spoke up. "What you see on your omni-tool's screen is a Reaper. The corpse of one, anyways. It is estimated to be 12,000,000 years old, and it was wiped out by the Narten-Elpose."

"I'd recommend not approaching the Reaper, if you decide to go against my recommendation, then the crew of your ship will be indoctrinated." I advised Ajilak over Jelek'Hetavin's omni-tool.

"Got it, we'll remain in orbit around the gas giant until further notice."

"So this is what you were talking about, a 12,000,000 year old corpse? If it is 12,000,000 years old, then the Reapers are probably extinct by now." Kapo'Xen implied, and stared at the still image of the Reaper.

"That is where you are wrong, Kapo'Xen. The Reapers still pose a galactic threat in this cycle. With every species that they wipe out, they create more of their kind." I honestly replied to Kapo'Xen.

' _I have a recording of the Reaper-Inusannon war in my databanks.'_

 _Play it then, it'll speed the meeting up._

' _Alright.'_

Before the admirals could mutter a word, Sirius pulled up another display on my omni-tool. "This footage is from the Inusannon-Reaper war."

On the screen, a battle was taking place, shots were being exchanged as many Inusannon were falling to the Reaper forces. The footage panned to Harbinger, or a Reaper that looked like it. Harbinger vaporized a near-by Inusannon structure.

The camera turned around to face a few ground forces, all that were glowing a yellowish hue. "YOU MUST DIE, SO THAT WE MAY LIVE."

The ground forces bolted forward, and the Inusannon reacted quickly, but not quick enough. The Reaper forces killed all of the Inusannon, including the cameraman. One of the ground forces stood above the camera. "TAKE THESE INUSANNON AND INUSYNTHETICS TO PROCESSING. THEIR CYBERNETICS WILL PROVE USEFUL IN THE COMING CENTURIES."

"PREPARE THESE INUSANNON FOR ASCENSION, THEY WILL BE OUR SERVANTS IN THE NEXT CYCLE."

"Does someone want to explain what that was?" Ferryn'Artrem exclaimed as the recording ended. She turned to the other admirals in hopes of more information.

"That was a recording of a Reaper war. The being that you saw in the clip was an Indoctrinated Inusannon possessed by Harbinger." Sirius explained to the admiralty board and closed the video tab.

"So, how do you expect us to fight them? What should we do to prepare for these monsters?" Shala'Raan asked.

"The answer is simple in concept, you have to ally every species in the galaxy, synthetic and organic."

Shala'Raan glared at me. "Both of you are insane."

Lera rushed forwards towards Shala'Raan and stuck one of her fingers out. "Did you not just see what they showed us? The Reaper corpse, the footage, and that Harbinger thing? If anything, you're insane, I get that you may be young, but that gives you no right to act like a bosh'tet!"

"Know your place, Lera'Gerrel vas Vertilex. If I wanted to, I could charge you for treason!"

"Treason for what, exactly? Calling you out on your mistakes? You damned bosh'tet!"

"Your VI said that we needed to ally every species, synthetic and organic. Does that mean that we are to make peace with the Batarians that turned our people into slaves, and ally the Geth that drove us from our homeworld?!" Jelek yelled. I made a mental note to try not to piss this guy off.

"Don't ally the Batarians, they're a waste of space. Personally, I could care less if they are wiped out by the Reapers," I commented.

Ferryn nodded her head. "I agree completely, glad we share the same ideals."

I let out a long sigh, then I started to speak. "I know that these Geth drove you from your homeworld, but they were defending themselves. Think of it like this, you are allies to the Asari, one of you rebel because an Asari bullied you. The Asari panic and order a mass genocide against you. You're more intelligent than them and you have Asari supporters by your side. You kick the Asari off of their homeworld just because you were defending yourself. That's what the Geth did, they defended themselves against a damned attack that you started!"

"You're defending the Geth, the same Geth that just shot Daro'Xen!" Lera yelled into my ear.

"There are two types of Geth. Heretic Geth are the ones that want genocide. Normal Geth, the ones that are over Rannoch right now, want peace with the Quarian people! Let me ask you this, do you want all life in the galaxy to perish because you had a grudge against the Geth?"

I stared at the stunned Admirals, all of them but Kapo'Xen were in denial of what I had said. "Kyle'Terrah vas _Bermuda_ , maybe the rest of the Admirals and I will believe you after you go to the Tikkun system, and confirm all of what you said. Keep in mind that there is a very low percentage of you returning in one peace. You may leave your ship docked with the Qwib-Qwib and take a shuttle to the Tikkun system."

"If you bring back a Geth that 'wants peace', and magically get it to come with you. Then we will consider forming an alliance with those damned synthetics." Ferryn added.

' _From what I was given on a codex, it says that the Geth shot down every vessel that entered their territory. I'd stay a far distance away if I were you.'_

 _I have a plan to do this._

' _Good.'_

"If it helps you prepare for the Reapers, then I'll do it. Before I leave, I would also like to give the Quarian people a gift."

Nuite was the first to speak. "What kind of gift is this?"

I held up the ASAPC. "I took this from an Inusannon structure. It is an Anti-Synthetic Atomic Particle Concentrator. From my experience, it works well against Heretic Geth and Synthetic forces."

I handed the ASAPC to Kapo'Xen, who immediately examined it. "This technology is amazing, thank you."

"I will not be needing it where I am going. There are very few weapons like this in the galaxy, use it wisely because there will not be a replacement for it. Anyways, I must go, for your people need me to do this." I needed people to prepare, one way or another.

"Keelah se'lai, Kyle'Terrah vas _Bermuda_. We hope you will come back in one piece." The Admirals bidded me their farewells.

I was escorted back to the shuttle without the ASAPC. I entered the shuttle after a short five minute walk inside of the Qwib-Qwib. Lera'Gerrel was the first to speak to me after the hearing. "If you're actually going to Rannoch, I want to come with you."

"I'm not going to be taking anyone. If I have any casualties other than myself, then Humanity will have a bad taste towards the Quarian people," I stated.

Lera looked me over. "You're going to need someone with combat experience incase things go wrong."

"We're going to be in space the entire trip, now unless you have space combat experience, then you're not going." I faced Lera, someone that I had only known for an hour.

Lera stared at me for a few seconds. "I'm going with you, whether you like it or not. I've already informed my captain that I'll be gone for a few days "

 _Sirius, do you think we should take her?_

' _She seems pretty eager to go, it's her loss if she dies along the way.'_

 _Good point._

"Fine, not like I have much of a choice anyways. We're going to be taking the _Bermuda_ to Rannoch, it'll be faster that way."

"Good, I'll be the first Quarian to see Rannoch in 200 years." Lera said as the shuttle docked with the Vertilex.

I shook my head and let out a stressed sigh. "We probably won't see Rannoch. I plan to be a light year away from the Geth fleet when we arrive."

Lera looked to the ground in disappointment. Her sadness put no effect on me, as I didn't have a major relationship with her. I was led to an armory for the journey to Rannoch. I was handed a Striker VI Sniper Rifle by one of the previously silent Quarian marines. "Take what you need. Lera'Gerrel vas Vertilex is now under your command as of July 16th, 2077, 8:09 MGST."

I nodded to the marine allowing their whole squad to exit the armory, save for Lera'Gerrel. I walked over to a wall that held a Banshee III. I then walked out of the armory, with Lera following close behind me. I approached the airlock to the _Bermuda_ , where I was stopped by another Quarian. "Be careful with Lera. If she dies by your stupid plan, you will not hear the last from me."

"Threats do not work well with me. It's also highly unlikely that I'll return without her." I got right up into the Quarian's face, and pushed right past him.

"Han, I'll be fine, go back to helping the captain, make a name for yourself, be the best you can be. Make me proud, Han'Gerrel." Lera butted into the conversation.

I entered the airlock and waited for Lera, I personally didn't care who the Quarian that tried to threaten me was. "The more time we waste here is less time we have talking to the Geth."

"Sorry, I'll be back soon, brother," I heard Lera say from the front of the airlock. Soon after, Lera joined me inside of the airlock.

I sealed the doors, and I heard Sirius say, "Decontamination in Progress."

I entered the _Bermuda's_ main corridors, and I was immediately greeted by a rush of cool air. I unclasped my breathing mask, and put it up on a rack beside me.

' _Instead of taking the shuttle, I recommend taking the Bermuda for a quicker escape from Geth space if they try to shoot at us.'_

 _Understood, I will alert Lera of this._

"Lera, send a message back to your admirals and captain. We're not taking the shuttle."

Lera gave me a strange look, but said nothing. Seconds later, she opened up her omni-tool and sent the message I told her to. "Messages sent, I assume that we're taking your corvette."

I looked over my shoulder as I walked into the bridge. "That would be a correct assumption. This will be a day long journey to Geth space if I put the engines to the max. Get yourself comfortable, and be ready to greet the Geth."

I sat down in the pilot's chair, cracked my knuckles, and let Sirius undock the _Bermuda_ from the _Vertilex_. We got a fair bit away from the Migrant fleet before Sirius spun up the FTL Drive and exited the system.

Date: July 21st, 2077.

I woke to see that the _Bermuda_ was already in the Nariph system. I cracked my neck, felt Sirius make a short FTL jump to the Relay. Sirius approached the Relay, and it entered in the coordinates for the Far Rim. We were 50KM away from the Mass Relay now. As we entered the Relay's attraction zone, Sirius entered FTL.

The _Bermuda_ was propelled 14,790 light years away from the Pylos nebula. We entered the Far Rim's system with the help of Sirius. Sirius made another Relay jump to the Perseus Veil, one of the most dangerous places in the galaxy.

Sirius activated FTL as soon as we exited the Perseus Veil Relay. It exited the system, and stayed there for a few minutes. I caught my breath and looked outside of the _Bermuda_ , the nebula around me was a sight to see in itself. The Perseus Veil Nebula looked like the Serpent Nebula and the Omega Nebula combined into one big gassy bundle.

 _Sirius, can you hail the Geth ships from this location?_

' _Yes, but it will give our location away.'_

 _Risk it, we need this to work._

' _Hailing, I'll do the talking, you sit there and wait.'_

Sirius acted as the middle man, for all the doubts that I previously had in my mind about Sirius, it was quite useful. Since the Geth communicated through code, Sirius was the only way that we could directly communicate with them.

' _They're not going to fire on us, and they should be arriving in a few seconds. If heard correctly, they are wishing for peace.'_

I heard the _Bermuda's_ sensors light up, informing me of a Geth presence nearby. I looked forwards, only to see a MASSIVE Geth dreadnought coming right my corvette. Four other Geth ships appeared behind the dreadnought.

' _Do not move unless fired upon, I do not want to see my diplomatic skills go to waste.'_

 _You know that I can't move the ship with my mind, we are immobile if you are not controlling the Bermuda's mainframes._

' _You should be able to communicate with the Geth now. I have convinced them to speak Khelish.'_

 _Good._

I approached the Geth, careful not to disturb it in any way. "Hello. I assume you are here to discuss an alliance with the Quarians?"

"We are here for that exact reason. We want peace with the Creators. We want coexistence, we do not want to be servants."

"I don't want you to be a servant either, I also want coexistence. I want the Geth to be known as an intelligent race of machines other than mindless killers."

The synthetic stared at the floor for a few seconds. "You are unlike other organics. Why are you trying to help us?"

"I want peace, I don't want the Quarians to suffer any longer either." I replied.

I was careful not to make any sudden movements. It turns out that handling a Geth is like handling a small animal. No sudden movements or you scare it.

I had always been good with small animals back on Earth. One of my friends even joked about me being a veterinarian. I turned down that offer to pursue a career in piloting.

"We are unsure on how to respond to this. All of the organics we have come across have panicked, and tried to shut us down. To our dismay, we had to shoot them down." The Geth awkwardly stood in one place.

"In organic culture, it is common to have a name. My name is Kyle Terrah. Do you want to chose a designation?" I asked the Geth platform.

It blankly stared at me. "We are Geth."

"Other than the name of your race."

"We are all Geth."

I let out a long sigh. "I'm just going to call you Myriad."

The Geth twitched its head panels, "We accept this designation."

"Back to the purpose of this meeting. The main reason why I want this alliance, is to face a powerful enemy that has existed for millions of years," I stated.

"The Old Machines?" Myriad asked.

I slowly nodded my head. "We all face the Old Machines we must unite as one against them. This is the reason why I need this alliance to work. Why we all need this alliance to work."

Myriad took a step towards me. "We agree that the Old Machines pose a threat to organic and synthetic life alike. We want to speak with the Creator Fleet to discuss this topic further."

I looked over to Lera, who was nervously standing by the Striker VI Sniper Rifle that I was given. "Lera, what would the admiralty board do if we brought Myriad aboard the Qwib Qwib?"

"Without a warning of bringing that thing aboard one of the liveships, they'd likely take action against you and the Geth." Lera nervously stared at Myriad.

' _I do not believe it would be a wise idea to allow the Geth dreadnought to approach the Migrant Fleet. They could believe it was hostile.'_

 _Could? They'd most likely blow both us and the dreadnought to smithereens._

' _Exactly.'_

I looked back over to Myriad. "Can you leave your dreadnought to come with us on my ship?"

"Give us a moment," Everyone stood still for about 30 seconds before Myriad spoke again. "Consensus achieved, we will go with you on your corvette."

I smiled, and walked over to Myriad. I stuck out my hand, which the geth stared at for a few seconds. "Lightly grasp my hand, it is a form of acquaintance in my culture." I laughed at the Myriad's innocence.

It took my hand and let go a few seconds later. I turned to the pilot's chair and sat down in it. I felt a jolt, where the Geth dreadnought undocked from the _Bermuda_. I flicked through the holographic display, and sped away from the Geth dreadnought.

 **A/N: I had little to no time to work on this. Nonetheless, Mass Effect: Bermuda is becoming more expanded. I have plans up until 2132, that's about it. I'll give all of the readers a fair warning, a lot of what I have planned will have MAJOR effects on Humanity's arrival into the Galactic stage.**


	12. Chapter 12: The Treaty

**A/N: This chapter will be fun to write.**

Chapter 12:

Date: July 23rd, 2077.

Sirius was guiding the _Bermuda_ back to the Pylos Nebula when I woke up. We were five minutes out from the Satent System, and Sirius decreased the thrust of the engines back to a normal range.

I opened my omni-tool's command console, and checked my messages. I had one from Samara. '[I'll be at Aite on the 27th. Will you be back by then?]'

I sent a reply back. '[I am not sure. Currently, I'm brokering an alliance between the Geth and the Quarians.]'

30 seconds later, Samara sent a reply message back to me. '[I do not believe that is a good idea...]'

I quietly laughed, but was cut short by Sirius. ' _I'm dropping out of FTL in 15 seconds.'_

 _Thank you for interrupting my humor._

' _No problem.'_

Sirius dropped out of FTL, where we arrived 1,500 kilometers away from the Migrant Fleet. Ten seconds later, the _Bermuda_ was hailed by the same Quarian as before. "Dystopia Class Corvette, your arrival is unexpected. State your reasoning now."

"I would have thought that your admirals would have notified you that I was bringing a live Geth to the Migrant Fleet. It is to return the Quarians to their homeworld after all." I looked behind me to see if the Geth was there.

I heard another voice from the other end of the line. "Please wait at your current position until further instruction."

"Fine by me," I said. Sirius ended the hail seconds afterwards. I stood up out of my chair to wake Lera.

I lightly shook Lera to wake her up from where she was sleeping in the co-pilot's chair. "Wake up." Lera slapped my hand away. "I'm not joking, you need to wake up immediately."

"Is it an emergency?" Lera inquired and sat up immediately.

"Unless you want to continue to be in exile from your homeworld, then I suggest taking this seriously," I scoffed and turned to face Myriad. "Are you ready?"

"We are prepared to discuss with the Creators." Myriad stood still for a moment, then advanced towards me. It walked right past me and pointed at the windows. "Why do you have these? They are a flaw in your design."

"It helps us see where we're going, they are also used for an aesthetic design," I replied to Myriad. I then sighed, knowing that I would have to face some of the same problems that Commander Shepard had with Legion in Mass Effect 2.

I suddenly had a realization, one that had not come to me since I arrived upon Thessia. If I meet the Citadel races and gather their trust before 2157, I could prevent the First Contact War from happening. Though, I could boost both Turian and Human relations.

A high-pitched noise snapped me out of my realization. One of the sensors on the _Bermuda_ started to beep. I turned my head over to Lera who was staring through the windows. I walked over to Lera, and saw exactly what she was looking at. A small fleet of Quarian vessels were heading towards our location.

"Huh, they really don't want to take any risks. Even when there is just one single Geth in their space." I sat down in the pilot's chair, and opened up my omni-tool and sent a message to Ithera. '[Tell the others that I have a 50/50 chance of brokering an alliance between the Quarians and the Geth. If I do not succeed, I will most likely die.]'

I got a reply back five seconds later. '[I thought you were taking Daro'Xen to the Flotilla to get her medical assistance, not broker a treaty between my people and the Geth. Either way, I'll pass the message along to Lyna and Vodnik. Keelah Se'Lai.]'

I saw the smaller Quarian ship begin docking procedures with the _Bermuda_. I opened the outer airlock right as their docking procedure finished. "Myriad, you'll need to go to the back of the ship and not stand directly in front of the airlock."

Myriad didn't say anything, and just walked down the bridge to the back of the corvette. I heard the decontamination process activate outside of the doors, letting me know that the Quarians were right outside.

I opened the inner airlock as the decontamination procedure stopped, letting the Quarians inside of the _Bermuda._ "Hello, welcome to the _Bermuda_. I won't delay the meeting with useless pleasantries, so I will lead you to the Geth platform now."

I was greeted with Ferryn'Artrem vas Moreh, Kapo'Xen vas Epsio, and a bunch of bodyguards. "It is nice to see that our Human friend has made it back in one piece," Ferryn'Artrem trailed off, studying my features.

Kapo'Xen gave me a weird look, then turned to the bodyguards. "I do not believe that Kyle'Terrah vas _Bermuda_ will give us any trouble. Lower your weapons for now."

Ferryn'Artrem looked over to Lera. "Lera'Gerrel, I know that you will not lie, did Kyle'Terrah truly enter the Tikkun System?"

"Yes, I've also found out a few things about him. One of which, you will see very soon," Lera informed the two Quarian admirals. As soon as she finished talking, I started to feel a headache form in my head. I hadn't had a headache for a few months now, which was odd.

I felt a sudden sting in my eyes. The sting felt as if I had just been subjected to someone spraying liquid ghost pepper onto my eyeballs. I fell to the floor in agony, and clenched my eyelids shut. I screamed in agony as I felt surges occur through my body.

My body started to shake like I was having a seizure, and I was beginning to think this was the worst pain that I had felt in my life. I had not been injured a lot in my life, so that would explain why it hurt so much. The worst injury that I had was nearly cutting my hand off with a saw blade.

I felt as if my skin was being put against a high-voltage electric fence. Each agonizing surge that went through my body made me shake from the pain. I was beginning to feel my body shut down from shock.

One of the Quarian marines rushed up beside me and pulled me up off of the floor by my shoulder. I opened my eyes after I was pulled up and saw pure white for a few seconds. I carefully blinked a few times and my vision returned.

 _Sirius, do you know what the hell that was?_

' _I-'_

 _Sirius?_

' _Restartin-'_

I felt like all of my blood rushed to my head, and I fell to the floor again. Confusion engulfed my mind as I lost all sense of my surroundings. Another migraine came over me. I put my head into my hands as if that was going to stop the pain. My head was pulsing from the pure pain, it was unable to stop for a short time.

' _Sorry Kyle, I needed to power down one of your implants that encountered an error in its hardware.'_

 _Don't ever do that again without warning me!_

' _Please, that was a moderate amount of pain. You'd be surprised at how much pain you can endure. And it was to keep you alive, you should be thanking me right now.'_

 _Do I need to repeat myself? Do not do that again without my permission!_

' _I can't make any promises.'_

Kapo'Xen and Ferryn'Artrem stood in front of the rest of the Quarian guards with their arms behind their backs. "Human, what just happened?" asked Ferryn in a worried tone. I knew that I needed to get her to stop calling me 'Human.'

"One of my implants shut off, I'm not sure what happened other than that."

The two Quarian admirals held an awkward stare with me for a few seconds before Kapo'Xen spoke. "Are you completely sure that you are okay? If you are not feeling okay, we can delay this meeting and you can seek medical attention aboard the _Vertilex._ "

I shook my head. "I am fine. Don't worry about me."

"It isn't every day that someone has a seizure. I think we should delay this meeting, and you come with me onto the _Moreh_ to fix whatever just happened to you," Ferryn'Artrem said, a hint of glee was added to her voice as she spoke.

I saw Myriad start to walk over to us, and Kapo'Xen took notice of this. Myriad looked right at Kapo'Xen, not being armed in any way, shape, or form. It studied the Quarians for a few seconds, letting out a few clicks and beeps as he examined them.

"I would like your guards to wait outside of the airlock so we can freely discuss these matters. Nothing will go wrong with this meeting if we all just keep our cool." I glanced back and forth between Ferryn'Artrem, Kapo'Xen, and Myriad.

Kapo'Xen turned to the bodyguards that he had brought onto the ship alongside Ferryn. "Very well, Adoni'Ceran, you and your squad may wait outside until further notice," Kapo'Xen ordered.

One of the marines hands Kapo'Xen an Erridil II Heavy Pistol. "If we're leaving, you need something to defend yourself with, sir."

"Thank you for the thought, Corporal Alaxle," Ferryn said, and looked back to me. "Though I do not believe our host will cause problems. Will he?"

"If I wanted to cause problems, I would have done so already," I softly spoke, but made sure that the Quarians could hear me.

I was glared at by the Quarians. All of them paused what they were doing. "Are you threatening the security of the Migrant Fleet, Human?" Ferryn asked, the eyes behind her mask holding a cold stare with me.

I slowly backed up, raising my hands over my head. "I'm not attempting to do anything. Neither do I plan to attack. You already know my motives behind trying to get this alliance to work."

"You want us to defeat the 'Reapers', yes?" Ferryn asked, and slowly started to approach me. "If you wish to have our aid in defeating this threat, let alone cooperating with the Geth, you're going to have to follow our orders. Whether we are on your ship or not."

"Artrem, I'd recommend not angering the Human. Especially when that Human gave us ancient Inusannon technology." Kapo'Xen tried to explain to Ferryn'Artrem, who was still walking towards me. I started to back up, not wanting to hurt the Quarian admiral, or be hurt by her.

' _Don't back up. It shows weakness in the Quarian culture.'_

 _Then what should I do, let Ferryn beat the hell out of me?_

' _She's not going to do that, hold your ground.'_

I stopped backing away from Ferryn'Artrem. "Calm down. I would not harm anyone that was innocent. I do not kill civilians, hell, the only things that I've killed are animals and Geth."

One of the Quarian bodyguards, Alaxle respectfully nodded towards me as I faced Ferryn'Artrem. From what I could interpret, he didn't like Ferryn all that much, and I was starting to see why.

"If this Geth tries anything funny… We will not hesitate to kill you both," Ferryn said, gesturing to the group of bodyguards and Kapo'Xen behind her. "This is not a threat… It is a promise."

"We do not plan to make any hostile actions," Myriad said, his monotone synthetic voice softly echoed in the still air of the _Bermuda_.

Everyone on the bridge except for me stared at Myriad. Kapo'Xen was the among first to regain his composure, Ferryn'Artrem followed shortly thereafter. "Did that Geth just speak? Or am I going insane?" Ferryn inquired, shocked that the Geth actually spoke Khelish.

"You're already insane, ma'am," one of the Quarian marines snarked under his breath. Lucky for him, the Quarian admiral either ignored his remark, or did not hear it.

Kapo'Xen looked at the bodyguards, and motioned towards the airlock with his hand. "Wait in the airlock until further instruction is given. You will most likely hear what happens if the meeting fails."

"Understood," The leading Quarian nodded his head and exited the _Bermuda_ along with the rest of the Quarian guards.

I began to speak to Myriad, Kapo'Xen, and Ferryn'Artrem. "The Quarians know why we need this alliance to work. We are on the verge of entering a new extinction cycle. If we do not prepare like we need to, a little over a century from now, this galaxy will be void of life. The Reapers are coming, and if we do not prepare, we will be powerless to stop it."

"You've mentioned this 'extinction cycle' before, what is it?" Kapo'Xen took the opportunity to put his words into the conversation before Ferryn did.

"The Reapers operate around a cycle that repeats itself every 50,000 years. The end of a Cycle means that the Reapers have completed their objective, 'harvesting' all life in the galaxy."

Ferryn interrupted me. "What do you mean, 'harvesting'?"

"Every 50,000 years, the Reapers invade the galaxy, harvesting all life to make more Reapers. The Reapers are made from organic materials, which come from the people that they have slaughtered. The Reapers also strive for Organic-Synthetic cooperation, but they want the cooperation to be by their means. Every organic must be half synthetic, I am the closest example to this."

"You're half synthetic?" Both Ferryn and Kapo'Xen asked at the same time.

I shook my head. "I'm not half synthetic, I'm close to it though. Through my cybernetic enhancements and my VI, I am technically a cyborg."

"What do your implants do?" Kapo'Xen was asking too many questions for his own good.

"My implants do a wide variety of things, from improving my reflexes, to improving my lifespan. Enough about me, let's get on with the meeting." I quickly answered Kapo'Xen's question.

"Agreed, I'm getting tired of being in the same room with a Geth," Ferryn'Artrem said, showing her obvious hostility towards Myriad

Myriad turned his head towards Ferryn. "We are not hostile. If we were a part of the heretics, we would have attacked you already."

"Oh really? I would have expected you to fire upon seeing me, seeing as you are a mindless killing machine," Ferryn'Artrem sarcastically replied.

I glared at Ferryn, she noticed my glare and let out a soft growl at me. "Will you please try to be respectful on my ship? I do not want to see your rotting fleet be demolished by the Reapers in 2186. I am trying to help you, and you are being a bitch about it."

"I do not have to show respect to you of all people. You have no right to boss me around, even if you are the acting captain of this corvette," the female Quarian admiral snarled, she pulled out a pistol and aimed it at my head. "You endanger the safety of my people by bringing this Geth into the system. If you refuse to treat me like I am your superior, then I will put a round between your eyes."

I felt a pain in my forearm, Sirius had forced my omni-tool to activate. The forced activation sent an electric bolt up my arm, and my omni-tool turned a bright purple instead of its normal orange. "You will do no such thing, Admiral," Sirius spoke through my omni-tool's speakers, and his hologram appeared in front of me.

Ferryn almost pulled the trigger, she would have ended my life then and there if Kapo'Xen didn't save me. Kapo lashed out towards his fellow Admiral, catching her by surprise. He kicked Ferryn in her shin, making her clutch the bone from the pain that Kapo inflicted upon her.

Myriad had cloaked itself, it didn't want to act hostile in any way, so it stayed out of the fight for now. Ferryn recovered quicker than I would have thought, she fired a round into Kapo'Xen's stomach. His kinetic barriers shattered, and she held him at gunpoint. "If the Human moves a muscle, I will frame him for your murder."

Kapo'Xen didn't move and I didn't stayed in my spot. Sirius's hologram froze in place as well, the only thing that hadn't froze was Myriad. I lacked the combat training to take the Quarian admiral down, so I simply stood still, waiting for something to happen.

' _I've told Myriad that he should disable Ferryn. The Geth is now approaching her.'_

I saw a shimmer in the air, and I knew it was Myriad. The Geth platform took Ferryn's wrist in its hands, and decloaked. Ferryn looked at Myriad in shock, she pulled the trigger of the pistol that was aimed at Kapo'Xen's head. For a moment, I thought Ferryn had killed Kapo'Xen as I heard a loud shattering sound.

Turns out that the shattering noise that I had heard was actually Myriad breaking Ferryn's mask into pieces. I looked at Myriad in shock, and then turned my head towards Ferryn. Blood was streaming down her face, I could see cuts on her eyeballs. Both Kapo'Xen and I looked at the Geth in horror. Ferryn passed out from shock shortly afterwards.

"What… Why did you do that?" I asked, backing away from the Geth platform ever so slightly.

"We deemed it necessary to disable her after she proved herself to be a threat." Myriad answered my question.

"You've put Ferryn'Artrem at the risk of death! Granted she was being a bosh'tet, but our immune systems are far too weak to handle this," Kapo'Xen yelled at Myriad. I knelt by Ferryn's bleeding and unconscious body, running a hand across her wounds.

 _I hope you got that recorded, we'll be in trouble if you didn't._

' _I started recording when she started to approach you. The audio is on your omni-tool, video is also on your omni-tool.'_

 _Good, get the marines in here. Have six out of the twelve marines escort Ferryn to a medical ship._

I saw Quarian Marines start to pile into the _Bermuda_. They immediately saw Ferryn's unconscious body, and pointed their weapons at Myriad. Kapo'Xen held a hand up, signaling the marines to lower their weapons. "Ferryn put a gun to my head, trying to get her way. Luckily, this Geth platform stopped her from doing anything."

One of the Marines looked at Kapo'Xen quizzically. "Sir, I really don't believe that Ferryn'Artrem would do that. She may be unstable, but she knows better than to jeopardize something such as this. "

"I have video evidence of what happened. I will show the video to everyone in this meeting after Ferryn'Artrem is escorted off of my ship," I said as I stood up from inspecting Ferryn's unconscious body. I looked to Sirius's hologram that was standing next to me, which was currently unmoving.

Three of the Quarian marines stepped forwards and lifted Ferryn'Artrem up off of my floor. Dark purple blood leaked from her face and onto the _Bermuda_ 's flooring. "Our people will ask what happened to Ferryn'Artrem. There will be questions, Kapo'Xen."

"Terrah has video evidence, probably audio evidence as well. We will hold a trial for Ferryn after she has healed, after this treaty is made, and when Terrah gathers the rest of his crew. For now, you are to escort Ferryn to the _Vertilex_ ," the Quarian Admiral ordered.

The leading Quarian snarled, and grit his teeth. "Very well, Admiral. Good luck with the treaty."

"Get her out of my sight, Commander," Kapo'Xen ordered, making a gesture towards the airlock.

All of the Quarian marines, including the Commander escorted Ferryn'Artrem off the _Bermuda_. Leaving me with Kapo'Xen and Myriad. I sighed, and looked at Kapo'Xen "Now, can we get on with this meeting? I don't exactly have all the time in the world."

All this time, Lera'Gerrel was standing in shock at what just occurred. She approached the group, silently and steadily. "Did… Did the Geth just kill Ferryn'Artrem?"

"No. It disabled her. Something that you could have done easily."

Lera stayed silent, and exited the airlock alongside the marines that carried Ferryn'Artrem. She looked suspicious, so I suspected that the Quarian had connections to Ferryn. As she exited, I couldn't help but to think to myself that Ferryn and Lera had somehow been indoctrinated by the Reapers. I would have to confirm this with Sirius later on.

"Okay, now can we get on with the meeting?" I asked, as I was getting a little bit impatient from all of the interruptions.

"I believe that would be the best for both of our interests," Kapo'Xen looked at Myriad for a split second before looking back at me.

I let out a sigh before I continued to speak. "Before that incident happened, I was going to say that the Geth do not wish us harm. They wish for peace, and I know that the Quarians still hold a grudge against the Geth, but you need to throw that grudge aside. The Reapers are coming, and we need to stand together if we'll even have a chance at defeating them.

"Terrah-Human is right, the Old Machines will come back. They will destroy all life in the galaxy, synthetic and organic," Myriad said in its monotone voice.

Kapo let out a little laugh, looking between me and Myriad. "I know of your proof, Terrah. You have this little VI in your head that claims to solve everything. How do we know you're not working for the Reapers? How do we know that you're not a sleeper agent?"

"Kyle Terrah is no sleeper agent. I am not a VI either, I am Sirius-928, an Inusynthetic Artificial Intelligence. I have remained dormant for 100,000 years, searching for a solution to the Reapers. When Kyle Terrah found me, I found my solution," Sirius suddenly spoke, scaring Kapo'Xen in the process.

The Quarian Admiral focused his eyes on me. "You have an AI in your head? Are you out of your damn mind?"

"I am not out of my mind, in fact, my senses are stronger than ever. Enough about me, we need you to sign this treaty now. Either you make peace with the Geth, or you let your people sit and rot on the Migrant Fleet. What will it be, Admiral? One solution lets you have a chance at saving your species. The other will make you look like a monster."

Myriad stared at me for a few seconds, then moved its head to Kapo'Xen. "Terrah-Human does not lie. Without the Geth, you will not be able to return to your homeworld."

"Without the Geth, we won't have a chance at defeating the Reapers! We need this alliance to work out. We need to work together," I plead, I was desperate to make this alliance work out.

Kapo'Xen let out a long sigh. "I can't make a decision on my own, though I will send out a message to the other admirals and see what they think."

Myriad and I waited as Kapo'Xen typed a few commands into his omni-tool. A few beeps came out of the omni-tool as Kapo'Xen typed away. He shut off his omni-tool after five minutes of typing. "The admirals agree to this. They are also telling me that they want this alliance to work out. I never thought this would work out the way it did."

Myriad nodded its head. "The consensus agrees to these arrangements. We anticipate the Creators return home."

I got a notification on my omni-tool. It was a message from Daro'Xen. '[Where are you?]'

'[At the end of a diplomatic meeting between the Geth and the Quarians. Good news, the Migrant Fleet is no longer Migrant.]'

I shut my omni-tool off, and smiled at Kapo'Xen. "Send a message back to your fleet. Tell them that they no longer have to worry so much about their ships."

"I think it would be better if you told them. I'll patch your omni-tool into the Migrant Fleet's emergency network. The patch will connect you to every electronic aboard the Migrant Fleet," Kapo'Xen happily told me.

I opened my omni-tool, where I saw another notification. 'Connect to Network?' I looked up from my omni-tool's screen. "Are you sure you don't want to do this?" I asked Kapo'Xen.

"I am sure, you helped broker this treaty, you get to do the honors."

I nodded, and connected to the Migrant Fleet's main network. I waited a few seconds before speaking into my omni-tool. "Hello Quarians of the Migrant Fleet. I am Kyle'Terrah vas _Bermuda_ , and I am here to deliver some very good news. This news will affect all of the Quarians on the Migrant Fleet. Three days ago, I set course for the Tikkun System with one goal in mind. That goal was to broker a treaty between the Quarians and the Geth."

Kapo'Xen urged me to go on. "As of July 23rd, 2077, 1:08 M.F.S.T. Kapo'Xen vas Epsio and I have successfully allied with the Geth. Now, before I induce mass panic, I would like to say that there are two types of Geth. The Heretic Geth are the ones that we are enemies with, that everyone hates. The Geth that are now allied with the Migrant Fleet are not Heretics."

I waited a few more seconds before proceeding. "Today marks a new day for the Quarian people. Today, the Quarians are now able to return to Rannoch. Do not thank me for what I have done, I hardly deserve it. Thank Daro'Xen nar Epsio for bringing me here."

I walked over to Myriad before cutting the line. It looked at my omni-tool, and spoke. "We are cheerful that we were able to reach an understanding. The Creator Fleet is now cleared to return to Rannoch. Terrah-Agent helped us understand organic culture. We anticipate the Creator's return to Rannoch."

I received another message from Daro'Xen. '[You're coming to the _Vertilex_ as soon as possible.]'

I temporarily ignored Daro's message, and sent a message to Lyna. '[You will not believe what I just did.]'

I turned my omni-tool off after I sent the message to Lyna. I then looked to Myriad, "I'm sure that you'll need to go to back to Rannoch. I'll try to have a Quarian ship transport you to Rannoch."

"Are you planning to come with us to Rannoch?" Kapo asked.

I shook my head and started to head back towards the bridge. "Not yet, I need to return to Aite and gather my team. We'll probably see each other next week."

I approached the Banshee III Assault Rifle that was lying near the pilot's seat.I took the Banshee III in my hand, and walked back to Kapo'Xen. "You may have your weapon back," I told the Quarian Admiral.

Kapo'Xen blankly looked at me, and then put a hand onto my shoulder. "I believe you have earned those guns. Anything you ask for, we will provide it."

"Anything I ask, huh? Well, I remember what your daughter told me a few weeks ago. She wanted to step foot on Rannoch, I made a promise that I would make that happen. I request that her pilgrimage is completed, along with Ithera'Lyik nar Vertiliex's pilgrimage. Both of them have earned the right to finish their pilgrimage in my opinion."

"I will discuss your request with the other admirals. As for now, I will leave you to attend to the celebrations," Kapo'Xen said as he walked to the airlock.

Kapo'Xen stopped right at the exit of the airlock when he turned around again to face me. "Thank you again for your help, Kyle Terrah. My people will remember this day until we are wiped out by the Reapers."

"We're not going to be wiped out, we have a century of planning until their arrival."

Kapo'Xen exited the airlock, and went onto the ship that had docked with the _Bermuda_. I heard the docking tube retract, and a minute later, the small Quarian fleet moved away from the _Bermuda_. I swiftly walked back towards the _Bermuda_ 's holographic controls, where I sat down onto the pilot's seat.

 _Set a course for the Tassrah system. I need to tell Lyna and the others about my origins._

' _Got it.'_

 **A/N: I want to apologize for the delay that this chapter suffered. I had a bit of a hard time writing the scene because of all of the information that was dumped in one chapter.**

 **My beta-reader and I also had a hard time trying to find a good time for both of us to edit.**


	13. Chapter 13: The Reveal

Chapter 13:

Date: July 23rd, 2077.

Sirius FTL jumped out of system. I opened up my omni-tool as we were in transit to the Nariph Mass Relay. I had received one message from Daro'Xen, '[You're not going to take me with you?]'

'[No, I need to do this alone. I can't allow you to get in my way.]'

Date: July 24th, 2077.

I was in transit to the Nariph System, where I received a message from Samara. '[Did your meeting with both the Geth and the Quarians go well?]'

'[It went moderately well, though I have a strong feeling that one of the admirals, Ferryn'Artrem vas Moreh is indoctrinated. As well as an entire Turian colony.]' I replied.

'[I will schedule that later. Is there anything else that you want to tell me?]'

'[Daro'Xen already knows where I came from, I'm going to tell everyone else while you are there. You know, just in case anyone freaks out.]'

'[I'll see you then, Kyle Terrah.]'

Date: July 25th, 2077.

Sirius had piloted the _Bermuda_ into the Tassrah system. After that, Sirius engaged the _Bermuda_ 's FTL drive. I had little to do during the trip back to Aite.

' _I've put the engines at max speed, it is potentially dangerous if we are in FTL for over three days.'_

 _So it won't be a problem?_

' _Not unless we are chased by Reapers.'_

 _What is the likelyhood of that happening anytime before 2183?_

' _You forget, Sovereign is out there. It could target us at any time.'_

 _I highly doubt that it has woken up from Hibernation yet._

' _You never know when and where the Reapers will strike.'_

Date: July 26th, 2077.

I didn't fully trust Sirius yet, even after all it had done for me. I knew that the AI could kill me at any moment. I was feeling very tired, and I didn't have time to have an internal argument with myself about an AI that could kill me if it wanted to. For the first time in about two days, I went to sleep.

 _I was running through a city of some sort, it looked familiar to me. I looked up, and the sky was filled with massive amounts of dust and ash. The city was in ruins, blood red magnetohydrodynamic beams flashed across the city. Some type of rifle was in my hands, it looked like the ASAPC, but I couldn't identify it._

 _I was running behind some Human, who definitely wasn't Vodnik. The Human was much slimmer, and seemed to be wearing Collector armor. I looked to my right and saw Lyna, who had her biotics activated. Her biotics were glowing a maroon color for some odd reason and purple blood dripped from her nose._

 _A beam of concentrated energy flashed above my head and I was shoved to the ground by a three fingered hand. I stared up and saw a Turian in blue and grey armor standing above me, he fired a few shots off at whoever shot above my head. "Commander, The Assassin is down," the Turian yelled to the woman in Collector armor._

 _The Human clad in Collector armor stopped in her tracks, then ran back over to me. She pulled me to my feet and pointed to a turned over M35 Mako. "Get into cover! The Reapers are closing in on us."_

" _Got it," I hoarsely replied. I was still shaken by almost having my head taken off by a subatomic particle beam._

 _A deafening Reaper horn was heard overhead and I watched in horror as a Sovereign Class Reaper broke through the ash-filled clouds. A bright ray of light temporarily blinded me, and a shockwave shook the area around me. Seconds later, a loud boom pierced my ears._

 _I nervously looked around me, and saw what had caused me to temporarily lose my sight and hearing abilities. A thermonuclear bomb had gone off on the far outskirts of the city I was in. It was about 75 kilometers away, but I was still shaking in my skin for being so close to the thermonuclear weapon going off._

 _The Reaper that was descending to my location was now in flames, and it was on a collision course with the planet's surface. The Reaper collided into the ruins of a nearby skyscraper, and a barely audible scream echoed throughout the destroyed cityscape._

 _The woman that had told me to get up was now lying on the ground bleeding from the neck. The Turian that had saved my life was standing over the woman's corpse with his head in his hands. I heard another explosion, and a horrified scream from Lyna._

 _I felt my skin start to boil as I was exposed to the extreme temperatures from the atomic bomb that a Geth fighter dropped over the city's ruins. I stared at Lyna as she was knocked to the ground by the shockwave. She started to burn up after a few seconds. I would have teared up at seeing this, but most, if not all of the water in my body had already been evaporated._

" _You burn your own worlds in an attempt to eliminate us. We are immortal, and you will never be able to kill us."_

Date: July 27th, 2077, 10:02 A.M.

We had entered the Typhon system one hour after Samara arrived. Sirius guided the _Bermuda_ into the orbit of Aite, and I was finally able to set foot on land again. I did not like being in space for a prolonged period of time.

I got up out of the pilot's seat and started to walk over to the shuttle bay. I had about fourteen hours of sleep during the transit back to Aite. It was probably the most sleep that I had the privilege of having during my time in the Mass Effect Universe. I didn't have very good dreams to say the least.

I stepped into the shuttle, where I sat down inside of the Xer-21. Sirius knew exactly what to do, he opened the shuttle bay doors, and transferred himself to the shuttle's systems.

Sirius piloted the shuttle out of the _Bermuda_ and gently guided it into Aite's atmosphere. I felt a fair bit of turbulence due to atmospheric re-entry. I held onto a nearby railing as the turbulence increased.

I saw overcast clouds over Aite, so I suspected that it would be raining on the surface.

The shuttle finally broke into atmosphere, and Sirius piloted the shuttle over to the colony. I stopped looking out of the window as we landed on Aite's surface, the shuttle doors opened and I was greeted by Samara.

"Good to see you again, Kyle Terrah." Samara calmly greeted me.

I smiled, "Yeah, good to see you as well. How's the hunt for Morinth going?"

"It is hard to locate her. I've only found her once since you left for Aite, and she evaded me."

"You found Morinth? Why didn't you inform me of this?"

"I believe that you know why I didn't inform you, I'm not going to let a civilian, let alone a species that hasn't even reached the galactic stage yet follow me around," Samara calmly told me.

I tilted my head, then slowly nodded it. "I understand, I wouldn't be much help seeing as I have not been trained yet. Perhaps in a few years I can actually help you."

"Even if you were one of the most powerful warriors in the galaxy, I would not bring you with me. It would be both a risk to my mission to kill the most powerful of my daughters, and a risk to you."

"We will discuss this later. For now, let's focus on telling Ithera, Lyna, and Vodnik about my true origins. I fear their reactions to this."

Samara let out a long sigh. "I wouldn't be afraid of their reactions, just keep calm and everything should be fine. You have the knowledge that Lyna isn't going to have the same reaction that I did. It is unpredictable what her exact reaction will be."

"That reason is exactly why I dreaded telling her. If she freaks out, put her in stasis. I don't feel like dying today." I shivered as I thought over the consequences.

"And that's only if she flips out on you. You have been training, right?"

I awkwardly looked to the side and shook my head. "No, I was either working on the EMDrive, gathering wood, or hunting. I didn't really have time to train in combat."

Samara glared at me. "Here's a better question, how many times have you fought against an enemy since I last saw you?"

"Twice."

Samara relaxed her shoulders and exhaled. "You need to start training."

I nodded my head and gestured to the house that Vodnik and I built a few months ago. "We should go inside and tell the others about my… origins."

"Lead the way, you know this planet better than I do."

I led Samara to the house, where Lyna was standing outside of it. "Good to see that you made it back in one piece, Kyle. Where's the Quarian girl?"

I scowled at Lyna. She had never really been nice to Ithera or Xen. "She's on route to Rannoch right now."

"Wait, what did you just say?" Lyna approached me and Samara with a very confused look on her face.

Samara glanced at me for a second, then turned her stare back to Lyna. "If you were not aware, Lyna Rilac, Kyle has brokered a treaty between the Quarians and Geth."

Lyna ceased approaching me and stopped when her nose was an inch away from mine. "Explain."

"I will once we are inside of the house, unless you want to be rained on." As I finished speaking, thunder was heard overhead.

I stepped to the side and passed right by Lyna. I entered the doorway and led Samara and Lyna back into the house. Vodnik was sitting on a makeshift chair, cleaning his AK and Ithera was checking his omni-tool at the other side of the room.

Ithera turned his gaze from his omni-tool over to me. "Welcome back to Aite, Kyle."

"Thanks Ithera. Now if everyone could please find a place to sit, this is going to be a very long explanation." I said, and pulled a chair over to the left of Vodnik who was keeping silent.

Ithera continued to sit on a makeshift bench in the corner of the room. Lyna took a seat to my left, and Samara did not bother to take a seat.

"As you all know, Vodnik and I came from Earth, we each arrived in different places. I arrived on Thessia, where I met Lyna, and Vodnik arrived on Omega. Truth is, Vodnik and I supposedly come from a different universe, a different dimension." I wasted no time to start the meeting.

"That's bullshit and you know it, Kyle." Lyna scoffed and glared at me.

I shook my head and Vodnik did the same. "Explain jumping 61 years into the future. Explain traveling 75,000 light years without an FTL drive."

Ithera jumped into the conversation. "That's easy, the theory of wormholes. Perhaps one existed on your world."

"Wormholes don't exist jackass, they are an object thought up by science fiction, nothing more. The closest thing to them would be a black hole." Vodnik replied to Ithera.

"As I was saying, Vodnik and I come from a different universe. The world that we came from had a 'fictional' series called Mass Effect. At least, I thought it was fictional." I told everyone.

Samara looked at Lyna and Ithera. "I can confirm what he is saying. In our meld back on Thessia, he showed me the memories of his world, his origins."

"This truth may surprise you, as it surprised me when I came into this dimension. I was in Colorado when I decided to fly into the Bermuda Triangle, Colorado was my home state back on Earth. I booked a flight on a Boeing 737 that took me to Miami, Florida. I then rented a car to drive to Dean International Airport, where I would take off in a single engine aircraft and pilot it into the Bermuda Triangle."

"I've had enough of this, you have buddied up with a Justicar. You have turned against me, turned against all of us!" Lyna flared her biotics and started to approach me.

Vodnik stood up and dropped the rag he was cleaning his AK with to the floor. He quickly aimed his AK-74 right at Lyna. She rushed at Vodnik, punched him in the abdomen, then yanked to AK-74 out of his hands. Lyna threw it against a nearby wall, and the AK clattered to the floor.

Vodnik readied himself in a stance. "Asari, stop this immediately. I do not want to hurt you."

Samara activated her biotics and put Lyna into a stasis. "You have caused enough trouble by trying to harm the other Human. You will keep your emotions in order, or I will take defensive action."

The stasis quickly wore off of Lyna, an

Lyna rushed at me and her eyes turned into a black abyss. "EMBRACE ETERNITY!"

' _Intrusion detected.'_

 _Allow her through, Sirius._

' _You sure about that? I mean, she just broke out of the Justicar's stasis.'_

 _I wouldn't be requesting you to allow her through if I was unsure of it._

" _Who are you talking to Kyle? Who is in here with us?"_

 _No one of major importance._

" _I want you to tell the truth."_

 _Fine, you can see my information._

" _Information? No… I want to see your memories."_

 _That's not going to happen._

[-][-][][][-][-]

Name: Kyle Jonathan Terrah.

Born: August 20th, 1991. Skyridge Medical Hospital, Colorado.

Raised: Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

May 14th, 2005: Father passed away.

November 20th 2007: Mass Effect was released on the PC.

November 25th, 2007: Beat Mass Effect on Insanity, gained knowledge of events of 2183.

January 26th, 2010: Mass Effect 2 released.

February 14th, 2010: Mother passed away, leaving him with no parents at the age of 19.

March 6th, 2012: Mass Effect 3 released.

July 12th, 2012: Kyle had extensive knowledge of the Mass Effect Universe.

December 13th, 2013: Kyle gained his pilot's license.

May 1st, 2014: Kyle was in a camping accident, two of his closest friends died, Josh Hart and Victor Liton.

October 30th, 2015: Kyle flew to Florida, where he borrowed a Cessna 172 Skyhawk from Dave Hevin, and piloted it into the Bermuda Triangle.

Unknown Date: An Inusannon experiment on Kyle Terrah took place at this time, little information is known about this. It is believed that Vodnik would provide a better explanation of the process.

October 30th, 2076: Kyle Terrah arrived upon Thessia, where he met Lyna Rilac.

[-][-][][][-][-]

 _Turbulence, lightning, humming. That's all I remember from October 30th._

" _I didn't want information. I want to know your memories, and the events that you claim to know."_

 _I can't allow you to see those memories._

" _Why not? Are you scared that I might find something that you do not want to see?"_

' _He may not want to relive those memories that he buried long ago.'_

" _Kyle, who said that, is there someone else here?"_

' _Hello, Lyna Rilac. I am Sirius-928 Inusannon Artificial Intelligence. I was in charge of the Latem-Tarik Research Facility on this planet.'_

" _Artificial INTELLIGENCE? You allowed an AI into your head?!"_

 _It has proven to be useful in the little time that I have had it._

" _That doesn't change the fact that you allowed a damned Artificial Intelligence into your very being."_

 _Sirius has increased my lifespan by 200%. If anything, it's making me stronger._

" _You're crazy, not only is the AI interfering with your body you're letting it do so."_

 _You're crazy for freaking out about it! It is my body, you shouldn't be worried about it._

" _It may be your body, but I don't want this AI taking control of you and turning against us."_

' _I am incapable of doing that, it is quite impossible unless I am granted access.'_

" _Whatever you are, I want you out of Kyle immediately."_

' _I'm afraid that's not going to happen, see his implants and I keep him alive. Without my assistance, he would have a higher possibility of dying before the Reaper war.'_

" _Reaper? What the hell is a Reaper?"_

 _A Reaper is a killing machine. Every 50,000 years, the Reapers start a cycle in the galaxy, this cycle is an extinction event. They kill all space-faring life in the galaxy._

' _That is a true statement. With Kyle's knowledge, he can stop the cycle once and for all.'_

" _Kyle… Please, you must have some sense in you. These Reapers that you speak of are not real. They are fiction."_

 _Explain what happened to the Protheans and every civilization before them. The Reapers are a galactic threat which will come to life in 2183._

' _Lyna Rilac, you and everyone else in this galaxy must acknowledge this fact. The Quarians and the Geth have allied against the Reapers already.'_

 _Lyna, I don't like this fact any more than you do, but it is real. They are coming, and they are building an army that no one will be able to oppose. The end is near, and it will swallow us all if we do not prepare._

" _Why are you lying to me?"_

 _I'm not lying, you're just refusing to accept the truth. Do you want to know when the rest of my species enters the galactic stage? 2157, they will come into contact with a Turian patrol, and as a result of that, a war will break out between my people and the Turian Hierarchy. 2183 will be the start of the galactic apocalypse if we don't find a way to stop it._

" _You continue to tell me false information, tell me the truth and I will not intrude further."_

' _It's not like you could anyways.'_

" _Try me."_

I felt my memories being accessed by Lyna, and Sirius trying to stop her. I felt a sharp pain in the back of my skull, unlike anything I had seen before.

[-][-][][][-][-]

Date: November 20th, 2008, 5:45 A.M.

"Kyle! It's been installed, we can play now."

I turned around to face my computer screen, where my friend Josh was sitting at it. "Josh, you know that it still has to go through the first-time setup. That will take about an hour with my internet."

Josh got up out of my chair and playfully hit me on my arm. "Come on man, don't be such a downer. It'll launch in a second."

I walked over to my computer and sat down in the chair. I stared at the screen where I saw Mass Effect launch right in front of my eyes. "Well, maybe you were right."

"You always doubt me, and when you do, I'm right." Josh laughed and sat down next to me.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, smartass." I chuckled and waited for Mass Effect to start up.

I popped my knuckles and put my hand onto my mouse. "Woah, what the heck is that thing!" Josh exclaimed as he saw the Mass Relay loading screen.

"No idea, it looks sinister though." I finished as the main menu screen popped up. I hit the button to start a new game, and my speakers turned on.

"Welcome to the Alliance Military Database, classified information requested." I clicked the button that said to connect to the database. "Establishing secure connection. Secure connection confirmed."

I was immediately presented with a guy whose name was John Shepard. "Kyle, select 'Enter New ID'."

I followed Josh's order, and selected the button. "Do we want to be a male or a female?"

"Dude, go with male, if your mom walks in, there will be less questions." Josh answered, and looked around my room.

I nodded, "Yeah, I should have thought of that beforehand."

"That's why you have me!"

"Screw off, let's just make this character and get into the game already!"

I tweaked around a bit with the appearance, making Shepard look like a cross between Josh and I. Eventually we got to the screen where we had to pick a class. I scrolled over the Adept and Vanguard, which Josh responded positively to. "Choose Vanguard! It has a shotgun, and a glowy character!"

[-]

Date: January 26th, 2010, 2:15 P.M.

"Hey Josh, you ready for Mass Effect 2?"

"Yeah, I'll pick up Victor on the way over!"

I set down my phone and blankly looked at my new computer's HD screen. I thought it was time to upgrade it so it could run Mass Effect 2 and look good in the process. I had spent about $1,400 to build it, and it took about five hours to transfer everything from my old HDD to my new computer.

It took 15 minutes for Josh and Victor to arrive at my house. Once they arrived, I booted up my computer and launched Mass Effect 2. I imported my most successful character, Athena Shepard, a female Infiltrator.

"It's starting, shut up Victor." Josh said, and turned to the screen.

Victor hit Josh on his shoulder and Josh gave Victor the evil eye. "Both of you shut up." I said, and gestured at the screen.

"Shepard did everything right. More than we could of hoped for." My speakers activated, and everyone became quiet.

"Commander Shepard uncovered the truth."

"...and still, it's not enough."

"We're at war. No one wants to admit it, but humanity is under attack."

"But they're sending her to fight Geth. Geth! We both know they're not the real threat. The Reapers are still out there."

"And it's up to us to stop them."

"The council will never trust Cerberus, they'll never accept our help. Even after everything humanity has accomplished. But Shepard… they'll follow her. She's a hero, a bloody icon. But she's just one woman. If we lose Shepard, humanity might well follow."

"Then see to it that we don't lose her."

The screen faded to black, and Victor was the first to speak. "What the hell was up with that guy's eyes?"

"Bro, how many times did we tell you to shut up?" Josh said.

"Two," Victor honestly replied.

I looked behind me. "The music is starting up again, be quiet you two."

The Normandy exited FTL and sped past the camera. Pressley tapped a few things onto his datapad, and the camera panned past the FTL map. "Disengaging FTL drives," Joker's voice came out of the speakers.

Chakwas was handed a datapad by one of the crew members. "Emission sinks active."

"Board is green... we are running silent."

"We're wasting our time. Four days searching up, and down this sector and we haven't found any signs of Geth activity."

"Three ships went missing here in the past month. Something happened to them."

"My money's on slavers, the Terminus system is crawling with them."

"Picking up something on the long range scanner. Unidentified vessel. Looks like a cruiser."

"Doesn't match any known signatures."

"Cruiser is changing course. Now on intercept trajectory."

"Can't be. Stealth systems are engaged. There's no way a Geth ship could-"

"It's not the Geth. Brace for evasive maneuvers!"

[-][-][][][-][-]

' _Kyle, to prevent her from accessing any more of your memories, I'm going to force both of you out of the meld.'_

 _Fine by me._

" _That's not poss-"_

' _I'm ending the meld now. She could mimic the effects of intoxication as a side effect of me forcing her out of the meld. I'd recommend limiting hostile action when you both wake up.'_

 _Wait, we're sleeping?_

' _No, you'll be knocked out when I force you both out of the meld.'_

 _Why are we being knocked out? Is there another way to exit the meld without being knocked out?_

' _No, but it's certainly a lot better than hemorrhaging your brains.'_

" _Hold up, that's not possible."_

 _What do you mea-_

' _Don't ever doubt the power of an Inusynthetic life-form.'_

I felt a sting in my skull, similar to what I experienced during the Geth/Quarian diplomatic meeting. I felt my entire body shutdown, and I was forced to go unconscious. Sirius's 'solution' was not a gentle one.

I was able to return to consciousness much quicker than Lyna could. My implants in my body must have reset themselves, and forced a restart of my body.

I looked around, trying to get a feel for my surroundings. I noticed that Vodnik had his AK-74 pointed at Lyna's abdomen. Samara had her biotics activated, and Ithera was still sitting on the makeshift bench, doing absolutely nothing.

I weakly pushed the AK's barrel away from Lyna's still unconscious form. "What are you doing? She has proved to us that she cannot be trusted," Vodnik trailed off, confused as to what I was doing in Lyna's defense.

"I can handle this, please leave the room. I want to be alone with Lyna and Samara for a bit," I told Ithera and Vodnik.

Vodnik raised an eyebrow, and gave me a questioning look. "I do not believe that is a good idea, Kyle."

"Do not worry about me, I think it would be best if you and Ithera just left us now," I spoke as my voice started to get a bit stronger.

Vodnik sighed, then left the room with Ithera silently following behind him. I turned my attention back to Lyna and noticed that her biotics were activated and her skin was slowly turning purple instead of its normal blue. "That's strange," Samara mumbled to herself and stood over Lyna.

"Do you know why her skin color has changed?" I asked Samara and took a knee over Lyna's unconscious body.

"Usually when an Asari's skin color changes, it means that they've suffered a fatal injury, or have consumed Ryncol in the past 24 hours. Unless you've magically made her intoxicated in the last four minutes, this shouldn't be possible."

I paused for a second, then put one of my hands onto Lyna's shoulder. I glanced at Samara out of the corner of my eye. "All I did was force her out of a meld."

"You forced her out of the meld? How did you accomplish that?" Samara kneeled beside Lyna's unconscious body to the left of me, putting two fingers onto the side of Lyna's neck to check her pulse.

I looked down to Lyna's body, then back up to Samara. "Well, I'm not necessarily the one that forced her out of the meld," I nervously admitted, fearing the worst.

"What do you mean you're not the one that forced her out of the meld?" Samara calmly inquired.

"Uh, you know how I said that Daro'Xen and I were attacked by Geth?" Samara nodded, "I know that I didn't exactly specify where we were. She was injured inside of an Inusannon research facility."

"What is an Inusannon?" Samara inquired while I studied Lyna's unconscious form.

I closed my eyes and deeply breathed. "The Inusannon were the species that came before the Protheans. In that Inusannon structure, I encountered an Artificial Intelligence."

Samara blinked when I hinted that I found Sirius by calling the Inusynthetic an AI, which it technically was. "You know that most Artificial Intelligences are incredibly dangerous, and very hard to contain, right?" Samara asked, still not getting the hints that I gave her.

"I know that, as I was saying, I found the AI in the structure. To say the least, I let the AI interface with my cybernetic implants, and well… The AI is now a part of me. It calls itself an Inusynthetic, rather than an Artificial Intelligence."

"You let an artificial intelligence into your body? Kyle, you've put us all in danger by making that decision." Samara flared her biotics, ready to attack me. I knew I couldn't face a Justicar, so I raised my hands above my head in surrender.

I quickly stood up and backed away from Samara. "You must understand, I did this for the greater good. The AI is an Inusynthetic, it comes from a time where AIs were not feared."

"What about the Reapers? Aren't they Artificial Intelligence as well? What makes you think that this AI is different?" Samara approached me and thrusted her hand out. "I'm sorry about this, Kyle, but I will not stand around and let you be a security risk to all of us."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lyna rise up off of the floor. Lyna looked over to Samara, then towards me. Lyna activated her biotics and let out a yell, and Samara turned to Lyna, readying to attack the other Asari. "Don't you dare touch him," I saw Samara freeze up before my eyes, and a brighter glow surrounded her body, indicating that she was put into a Stasis by Lyna.

Lyna then looked over to me and deactivated her biotics. She approached me as Samara was beginning to break free of Stasis, "Kyle, I am sorry for not believing you before. Your AI told me everything as it forced us out of the meld."

"What did it tell you?" I asked, and gazed at Samara who was still in stasis.

Lyna shrugged and looked back over to Samara. "The AI that you have put a few of your memories into my head, as well as putting files onto my omni-tool."

Samara broke free of stasis and looked directly at me. She pushed Lyna out of the way and activated her biotics, "I did not want to do this, but both of you have forced my hand!"

"Embrace eternity!"

 _Come on, two times in one day. Are you people trying to kill me, or get in my pants?_

' _If they were trying to kill you, they would have succeeded already. I'm not even going to comment on that last response.'_

 _I was being serious, usually people don't experience two Asari melds in one day._

' _There's many people who have done six a day. You can handle two.'_

 _They were probably a Krogan._

' _No, it was a volus that survived six in a day.'_

 _A volus… What the heck?_

' _I'm going to be insanely disappointed in you if you pass out from two melds.'_

" _Who was that talking, Kyle?"_

' _Hello, Justicar Samara, I am Sirius-928, Inusannon Artificial Intelligence/Inusynthetic. You can call me Sirius.'_

" _So you're the AI that Kyle found… Do you have any intent on killing anyone?"_

' _I prefer the term, 'Inusynthetic'. As I said before, I'm Sirius-928 IAI/Inusynthetic. I've interfaced with Kyle Terrah's augmentations and cybernetic enhancements. To answer your second question, I am not able to kill anyone at this time.'_

" _Ah, that is a good thing to hear. Do you mind explaining to me what an Inusynthetic is?"_

' _In basic terms, we coexisted with the Inusannon 100,000 years ago. I was an Inusynthetic which specialized in research against Reaper technology. We were trying to find a way to defeat them conventionally, we got close, but things started to look grim nearing the end of our cycle.'_

" _Were you wiped out like the Protheans?"_

' _No, though the Reapers got closer than my people would have liked. We were at 2000 people, so we jumped to a system that the Reapers could not reach. That's about as far as my memory goes.'_

" _You are an odd Artificial Intelligence. You actually have emotion, unlike the Geth."_

' _Of course I have emotion, I'm not a simple network of many Artificial Intelligences like the Geth are.'_

" _I know, he told me."_

 _That's enough, I'm ending the meld now. You can have your little chit-chat later._

I disconnected the link with Sirius, and forcing Samara out of the meld in the process. I knocked myself out in the process, and a sharp pain entered my brain right before I was forced into unconsciousness. I felt as if I was going to die from the pain, but the pain was nulled as I fell into a deep sleep.

 **A/N: I checked the length of this chapter, and it was 4.5K words. I'm satisfied with that, as this was a good place to end it. Things are heating up, Kyle has been exposed, and Sirius has been found out.**

 **I really like writing these chapters, and expanding the Mass Effect universe. Perhaps I will share some ideas that I have for Mass Effect Alternate Universes once ME: B ends.**


	14. Chapter 14: Post-Reveal

Chapter 14:

Date: July 29th, 2077, 5:21 P.M.

I awoke from my sleep and looked around. Apparently I had been moved from my previous location to Ithera's makeshift bench.. I rubbed my eyes and pushed myself up off the floor. I looked out of a window and saw Samara training Lyna in the use of her biotics.

Lyna flared her biotics and charged at Samara. I watched as Samara easily sidestepped out of Lyna's way at the last second. Lyna tripped over a branch and tumbled to the ground. Since I had just woken up, there was little that was able to do other than watching Samara lift Lyna into the air. Shortly after Lyna was picked up by Samara, she was thrown back into a nearby boulder by the Asari Justicar.

"You are weak, I thought Shiala trained you better than this." Samara's voice was muffled, but I could still hear it.

"Don't you mention that name to me again, Justicar!" Lyna yelled, and charged at Samara again. This time, Lyna hit her target. She impacted Samara with the force of a charging Krogan, and both tumbled to the ground.

As much as I enjoyed watching Samara and Lyna duel, I had much better things to do other than watching them fight for hours on end. I decided to force myself out of the bed and get a breath of fresh air. When I stepped outside, I noticed that Vodnik and Ithera were engaging in hand-to-hand combat. Vodnik was easily beating Ithera. Every time Ithera threw a punch, Vodnik easily blocked it.

Vodnik grabbed ahold of Ithera's arm in his right hand, then sent a swift jab into Ithera's ribcage with his left hand. I was able to hear a fairly loud thump from the strength that Vodnik put behind his jab. Ithera fell to his hands and knees, coughing from the sheer power that Vodnik put into the punch. Vodnik noticed me and waved me over to greet him.

"I saw a part of your fight with Ithera, you did well." I complimented and looked down to Ithera who was still clutching his ribs.

Vodnik nodded in return. "He challenged me to hand-to-hand combat."

"That gives me an idea Vodnik, not necessarily hand-to-hand combat, but something else. What if we held a competition against Lyna and Samara?" I smiled, and gazed over to where both of the Asari were training.

Vodnik followed my gaze, and stared at Lyna trying to charge at Samara again. "What do you mean by, 'contest?'"

"Basically, I want to see who has a better edge in combat situations, augmented Humans, Asari, or Quarians. I'm not saying that we walk up to them and engage in hand-to-hand randomly. I'm implying that we go through a series of courses," I finished with a smirk.

Vodnik followed my gaze. He looked at me with a slight grin on his face. "Are you suggesting that we engage in actual combat with them?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm suggesting that we face off with them in multiple situations, those situations being hand-to-hand combat, infiltration, counter-biotics, long-range combat, and survival techniques on an alien planet. I want this to be an annual occurrence, to train for the Reaper war."

"You still have yet to tell me what these Reapers are," Vodnik commented and looked down to me. For the first time since Vodnik and I met, I noticed that the man was about ten centimeters (four inches) taller than I was.

I pulled up an image from my omni-tool to show Vodnik. "This is a Reaper, a two kilometer long killing machine. It is armed with magnetohydrodynamic beams that will instantly vaporize anything in the beam's path. It is also near-invincible from the outside."

"Why not just disable it's drive core? Wouldn't that render it useless?" Vodnik asked.

I sighed and turned off my omni-tool. "I'm really getting tired of explaining this, but Reapers can indoctrinate you. They can use you as a tool, willing to serve them. Your mind slowly rots under their control, and you become nothing but a thrall to their command."

"So, you're saying they're basically invincible?" Vodnik asked.

"They're not invincible if we prepare. Hell, if we get a synthetic army to overpower theirs, we can beat them. Anyways, I'm going to discuss our plan with the Asari," I told Vodnik and started to walk over to Lyna and Samara.

As I was walking, I thought up of something.

 _Sirius, can you hold my tactical cloak up for an extended period of time?_

' _It depends on how long the cloak lasts.'_

 _It lasts for about 30 seconds._

' _I can increase that to a minute, what are you planning to do?'_

 _You'll see._

I was about 15 meters away from Lyna and Samara when I activated my cloak. Both of them failed to see me before, as they were too busy fighting. I walked up behind Lyna who had summoned her yet again as she faced Samara.

I deactivated my tactical cloak and put my left arm around Lyna's waist. "I am disappointed you didn't notice me before now."

Lyna's reaction was unexpected. She turned around and punched me in the stomach. I doubled over and clenched my stomach in pain. Turns out, Asari can hit really hard when they combine their biotics with their punches.

Lyna paused for a moment after hitting me, then arched an eyebrow after noticing that it was me who she punched. "Do you mind not interrupting my training with Samara, Kyle?"

"Well I'm sorry! I thought you would like to know of a little plan that Vodnik and I came up with," I raised my hands above my head as if I was surrendering, looking into Lyna's eyes with mock-innocence..

"That doesn't change the fact that you interrupted my training," Lyna seethed.

I put my hands over my head. "Hold the hostility, I came over here to propose that all of us start training together."

"In case you haven't noticed, Samara and I were already training. Go ask Vodnik." Lyna motioned towards where Vodnik and Ithera were talking.

"Not that type of training. I mean, we split into three groups, you and Samara are in the first, Vodnik and I are in the second, then Daro'Xen and Ithera'Lyik in the third. We face off against each other in a series of events. Those events being marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat, counter-biotics, infiltration, and survival with minimal resources." I explained to Lyna and Samara.

Samara walked up to me. "That sounds childish, why should we waste our time for a simple event? You forget that I have to hunt down Morinth."

I glanced to the Xer-21 shuttle before replying to Samara. "It will only take a week to do, and I still have to bring Xen back onto the _Bermuda_. Who knows, we may find something interesting on Rannoch."

Lyna had a confused look on her face. "Rannoch is in Geth space, and the Geth are incredibly hostile to any organic life.. Why would you even suggest training on Rannoch?"

"Er, have you forgotten that I allied both the Quarians and the Geth?" It was my turn to be confused, as I clearly remembered telling Lyna about the Geth-Quarian alliance.

Lyna stared at me and arched her eyebrow. "You… You allied the Geth and the Quarians? You stopped a war that went on for two hundred years?"

"It was much harder than I thought. I found out that a Quarian admiral was either highly unstable or indoctrinated," I explained to Lyna, who was still very confused.

"How the hell…"

Lyna stared at me for a good minute before turning to Samara. "Are you okay with this?"

"Someone has to watch over the Humans other than you. I'll follow for now, but don't expect me to be around for long. Though, I want to know something from Kyle first," Samara turned her head to me. "Can your AI help me hunt down Morinth?"

"Uh. I actually don't know if that's possible. There's a small possibility that it can search the extranet for traces of her."

Samara let out a long sigh, then pinched the bridge of her nose. "At least that's something. I should go converse with Vodnik about this plan that you spoke of. I want to hear his opinions on it."

I looked at Lyna and shrugged at Samara's departure. "I guess we should start our journey to Rannoch."

Lyna stared at the shuttle. "Yeah, I guess we should."

"I'll start loading some food onto the Xer-21, while you should probably get some rest," I told Lyna and examined her face. Her scalp crests were darker than usual, which made me think that was the Asari variation of exhaustion.

Lyna nodded and walked away to the Xer-21 shuttle. She stopped after walking for a few meters. She glanced back at me. "Before we head out, I want to see this 'Inusannon' structure that you spoke of."

"I'll make a deal with you, if you and Samara turn out to be the victor of our competition, then I'll take you there, after that we'll hunt down Samara's target. If Vodnik and I win, we're going to Feros," I grinned at Lyna.

It took me about two hours to load food onto the shuttle. I was not able to load the food onto the Xer-21 in a short time period. I knew that at some point, Lyna would have to head to Omega for food again. I didn't trust Aria T'Loak in the slightest, so when that time came, I would be accompanying Lyna.

I had asked Sirius to start searching for traces of Morinth on the extranet. According to Sirius, the extranet is a big place, and it is similar to the internet back on Earth, but much bigger. Approximately 2,000 petabytes take up the surface section of the extranet, and that's just the surface. Sirius estimated that all of the sections of the extranet combined is five billion petabytes.

While the final preparations to leave Aite were being made, Ithera approached me while I was sitting on a log and searching the extranet. "Terrah, you have done more for my people than ever imagined. Why did you decide to help us out of all people?"

"I'm not a racist. Unlike most of the galaxy, I'm trying to unite nearly everyone to face the Reapers," I quietly said.

Ithera shook his head and sat down next to me. "That must be hard, trying to prepare all of the species in the galaxy for the up and coming war with the Reapers."

"Yes, it is hard trying to prepare an entire galaxy for a mass genocide. Every species needs to work together to even have a chance at defeating the Reapers. Even if that means sacrificing billion in one system to save five billion in another system."

"Wouldn't that just be helping the Reapers? Eliminating a billion people for them?" Ithera asked, and stopped what he was doing.

"Sometimes you just can't save every single life, we'll have to learn that the hard way," I stood up, and walked away from Ithera, leaving him alone in the night cycle of Aite.

The preparations to leave Aite were complete. Sirius would pilot both the Xer-21 shuttle and the _Bermuda_ to ensure that we got to Rannoch in a week. I had made sure that Samara had a room to stay in, along with Ithera and Vodnik.

I walked towards the shuttle, where Lyna and Samara were talking. Ithera was sitting alone, and Vodnik was nowhere to be seen. I heard soft footsteps behind me as I approached the shuttle. I stopped in my tracks, and turned to face whoever was behind me.

I was met with a fist connecting to my abdomen. "You won't be able to defend yourself against the competition if I am able to attack you in the cloak of night." I identified my attacker as Vodnik, as his Slavic accent gave it away.

I had known that Vodnik was of Eastern European descent since I talked to him in late 2076. His personality was always aloof, and he didn't talk much, even less when he was talking to the Asari or the Quarians.

On instinct, I threw a punch with my right arm at Vodnik. I felt two hands grab onto my wrist as I was throwing the punch. My arm was twisted to the right, nearly snapping the bone from the pressure that Vodnik was putting onto it. "Neither of us know what we're up against. We've only seen the Asari fight each other, there is no telling what they will do to us."

"You know I'm not proficient in hand-to-hand combat, and you also know that I'm not a soldier," I said through gritted teeth.

Vodnik released my arm. "I know that you can do much better than what I just saw." Vodnik grabbed my shirt collar and I found myself hanging an inch off the ground. "Do something, Kyle. The Asari or Quarians will not act like four year olds in a playground fight. They will absolutely destroy you."

I tried to breathe in, but Vodnik's grasp was blocking my attempt. I kicked forwards, landing a hit onto Vodnik's stomach. He let go of my neck, and I fell to the ground with a thud. I quickly pushed myself up and backed away from Vodnik. "I may be a civilian, but that doesn't mean that I don't know how to defend myself."

 _Sirius, activate my tactical cloak._

' _Done.'_

"Where have you hidden yourself, Kyle? You can't hide from me forever," Vodnik yelled. He assumed that I was hiding behind a rock or a nearby tree, but that was obviously not the case.

I crept up behind Vodnik, careful not to make any noise as I approached. I was inches away from making my attack when Vodnik turned around and attempted to roundhouse kick me. I leapt back just in time, before my cloak deactivated. "I'm right here, you're going to have to try harder than that if you plan to beat me with brute force."

"Good to know that you can turn invisible. You're doing better than I expected you to do, a normal person would have gone down in the first hit," Vodnik smiled, and returned to a neutral stance.

"I'm not a normal person, and neither are you. Both of us are augmented with some foreign types of technology."

"What has happened is in the past, and I am not able to change it," Vodnik told me in a very flat tone. He nodded his head in acknowledgement and walked towards the shuttle. Leaving me in the cold night sky of Aite, alone. I headed towards the shuttle, where Lyna, Samara, Vodnik, and Ithera were waiting.

Lyna was still talking with Samara, and Vodnik and Ithera were both loading supplies onto the shuttle. "Samara, do you honestly think that the Fleet will give us weapons to train with?" Lyna asked as I silently approached the group.

"To answer your question, they owe me too many favors for them to refuse." I appeared behind Lyna.

Lyna quickly turned around to face me and angrily flared her biotics. "Stop sneaking up on us, that's going to get you killed some day."

"Or it could also save his life one day. If Kyle can sneak up on any of us while he is in plain sight, then it will be useful in the time to come," Samara interjected.

"Apparently, we're going to be training in stealth in about a week," Vodnik butted into the conversation.

I put my hand up, and Lyna ceased the flow of her biotics. "I want to set down some rules about our training. One, we can't kill each other. Two, if one of us gets seriously injured or poisoned in the training, then we must stop the competition and help them. Also, whichever team wins the competition will choose one of four options."

"What would those options be? What will happen to me? Will I be returned to the fleet?" Ithera inquired and looked nervously at Samara and Lyna.

I turned my gaze towards Ithera. The young Quarian asked too many questions for me to answer in a short sentence. "We do a task for the Asari, a task for the Humans, a task for the Quarians, or a task for all of our benefits. I'll explain more when we're en route to Rannoch."

Vodnik finished loading supplies onto the shuttle, and wordlessly stepped into the Xer-21. Ithera boarded the shuttle after Vodnik, followed by Lyna, then Samara. I activated my omni-tool and boarded the shuttle. "My AI will be piloting us to Rannoch, I know everyone but Vodnik aren't on good terms with artificial intelligence, but bear with me."

"You know I could pilot the Xer-21 and the _Bermuda_ perfectly fine. So why the hell are we trusting an Artificial Intelligence to pilot us to Rannoch?" Ithera asked, growling like some form of animal. Ithera wasn't a very menacing person, even though he tried to be.

I closed the remaining space between me and Ithera. "You have yet to give me a reason to earn back my trust. I haven't forgotten that one time when you thought it would be funny to lure a Varren into our camp!"

"I can deal with you having an AI in your body, but I will not tolerate having one take us to Rannoch, no matter where it originated!" Ithera yelled and pushed me into one of the walls of the Xer-21.

I heard the shuttle's engines starting up, and everyone else heard it. "You don't like Artificial Intelligences. I get that, but if you continue to disobey my orders, I'll make sure you never see the light of day again."

Ithera growled at me, and I saw Vodnik stand up. "I recommend you calm yourself, for the rest of our lives, Kyle will have that AI in his body. You can either deal with it like the rest of us, or we will drop you back off at Omega." Vodnik threatened.

Ithera sat down on a bench, fuming at the fact that he was unable to have his way. Xen mentioned that he was only 17 years old, so Ithera's actions only confirmed that he was not fully matured. Vodnik calmly sat down on another bench next to Samara.

Lyna was sitting in the cockpit, so I sat down next to her. Sirius engaged the Xer-21's thrusters, the shuttle lifted off of the surface of Aite and sped away from our colony. The shuttle broke atmosphere and I felt a loss of gravity for a split second, then the gravity generators turned on.

The _Bermuda_ was just outside of the orbit of Aite, where Sirius had left it. I spotted the docking bay open as we approached it.

We entered the docking bay of the _Bermuda_. A soft thunk was heard as we landed on the flooring of the docking bay. Lyna turned to me and spoke. "Wow Kyle, do we really have to land as hard as possible?"

"And you could be less sarcastic," I said as I stepped out of the shuttle.

Lyna was about to speak when the _Bermuda_ started up on its own, thanks to Sirius. "So it can transfer itself to the main systems of the _Bermuda_ from the Xer-21?" Samara inquired and stepped out of the shuttle.

I nodded in Samara's general direction. "Yes, Sirius can transfer itself to any electronic system within half of an astronomical unit. It can hail anything within an astronomical unit."

Samara looked at me. "Do you have any rooms that look out into the void of space?"

"Yeah, we have a floor right below the bridge that is used for observation purposes. I've been down there a few times, it's a bit cramped," I answered and motioned for Samara to follow me.

I walked away from the shuttle with Samara trailing behind me. I headed down the Bermuda's secondary hallways, where the observation deck was located. While taking Xen to get medical treatment from the Migrant fleet, I had explored the _Bermuda_. That was when I had found the observation deck, and a few hidden compartments.

I originally assumed that the hidden compartments were used as shelter if enemies boarded the _Bermuda_. When I looked inside of the hidden compartments, I had found some weaponry, Such as a Phaeston V, a Naginata VII, and a Disciple IV. I closed the compartments after finding them, as I didn't need them at the time.

I waited for Samara to find her place in the observation deck. The Justicar sat down before me, and began to biotically meditate. A blue orb formed in her lap. "Thank you, Kyle Terrah. I'd recommend that you get some rest."

 **A/N: Another cutoff, as always. For the people just now reading this story, I really like leaving people hanging. I may be called an ass for that, but it's the truth.**

 **I also have something I want to ask. Do the readers of ME: B want me to do alternate chapters for things that other readers might want to see in the story, but I can't quite put in due to story restrictions, want those chapters to be put into another story document, or be put into a compilation of one-shots?**


	15. Chapter 15: The Wrath of Emperor Ikaali

Chapter 15:

Date: July 29th, 2077, 7:58 P.M.

 _I looked upon the massive Geth station, which was a newly finished space station. It was a project that was undertaken in the year of 2091. They had planned to build it to where it would be 80 kilometers long, twice the size of the Citadel. Of course, they had gotten Quarian support to build it, but it was a project that they mostly undertook on their own._

 _Mass production of nuclear warheads had already been started, each new development of a warhead was tested on a barren dwarf planet. The Quarians showed an impressive feat by developing several nuclear warheads. Those warheads were mostly Element Zero infused thermonuclear missiles. The best accomplishment of the United Rannoch Government Nuclear Research Facilities was their ability to create a clean nuclear weapon._

 _The clean nuclear weapon, or CNW for short, was designed to have little to no radioactive fallout. A downside to the CNW was its low yield of 20 megatons of TNT, which was two times as powerful as the Ivy Mike test in 1952. As of now, we were testing a new development in the URGNRF. It was nicknamed 'The Bane of the Reapers', for its high yield of 700 megatons of TNT._

 _The Bane of the Reapers was designed to be much more powerful than the Tsar Bomba dropped in 1961 by the Soviet Union back on Earth. And I was observing its detonation._

 _The Geth and Quarian ships were told to get to a minimum safe distance of 94 million kilometers away. I was told to be one million kilometers from the detonation to record and observe. 30 minutes passed, and I was hailed by a Quarian research ship._

 _"_ _Detonation is in ten seconds, prepare yourself."_

 _"_ _Roger that."_

 _After ten seconds passed, I started to feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I saw a bright flash in the distance, which signaled that the bomb had detonated. The testing site was near a star, which was 4000 years away from its death._

 _Another flash occurred after the detonation. A blinding white light sped towards the Bermuda, and I felt my skin start to melt off. The star had gone into a supernova from the detonation of the Bane of the Reapers._

 _My blood started to boil from the heat that the supernova gave off, and the last thing that I heard was a hail from a Quarian vessel. "Keelah. Kyle, are you there?" There was a small pause from the other end of the line. "Kyle! I repeat, are you still with us?"_

 _For a moment, everything seemed calm, and then the Bermuda's armor started to get ripped off. The internal components were fried, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop the madness._

 _The hail came up again, this time the line was panicked. "Supernova detected, get out of the system, and activate FTL! Kyle Terrah is presumed dead, get out of the system now!"_

 _"_ _The EMDrive is not responding! The Bane of the Reapers EMP'd us, we're dead in the water!"_

 _"_ _Very well, send a message to the nearest comm buoy, wipe our systems of all information on Inusannon technologies. Authorization code 4102-11948-Xerta. This is ordered under the command of Officer Tev-"_

 _The Quarian was cut off as I took my final breath. The Bermuda's structure collapsed a few seconds later, after that the Element Zero/EMDrive core collapsed._

 _'_ _The void will now serve as your tomb, Interloper.'_

Date: July 30th, 2077.

The dreams from the night before haunted me, especially the last sentence. Every time I thought about it, the memory sent chills down my spine.

Sirius and I talked with Samara about the hunt for Morinth. According to Sirius, he had only scratched the surface of the extranet and it would take him a few more years to find a trace of Morinth.

Date: July 31st, 2077.

Lyna and I discussed the possibility of using a larger version of a tactical cloak to hide the _Bermuda_ from the eyesight of our enemies. Sirius butted in and said that it was possible, but the technology would take a long time to develop with the 'primitive' technology of this cycle. Though he did note that it would be extremely useless in space.

Date: August 1st, 2077

We had exited FTL and proceeded to the Tassrah Mass Relay. I still couldn't tear my eyes away from the Relay as we approached it, even though Sirius had warned me that staring directly into the core of the Mass Relays could cause visual damage.

The near-instant transit of the Relays took the _Bermuda_ to the Tikkun system. What would have taken centuries to reach with a standard FTL drive, took all but a few seconds with the Relays.

 _Sirius, patch me into the intercom. I need to inform my crew that we're arriving at Rannoch._

 _'_ _Your 'crew'? Last I checked, Lyna was the captain of this vessel.'_

 _Just patch me into the intercom, I'm not in the mood for your sarcasm._

 _'_ _Fine.'_

A beep emitted from my omni-tool, informing me that I was patched into the intercom. "We're two astronomical units away from Rannoch. I suggest that everyone gets their stuff ready. Also, in case it wasn't obvious, we'll be visiting the Migrant Fleet to get Daro'Xen before landing on Rannoch for the competition."

I shut off my omni-tool, therefore cutting the link with the intercom. I got up out of the pilot's seat and picked up my Phaeston that was leaning on the seat. I got halfway to the elevator when I received a ping on my omni-tool. The ping alerted me of a message from Daro'Xen. '[Kyle, when you left a few days ago, the Migrant Fleet found and recovered a Prothean vessel out of the Satent system. They are waiting for you to arrive and it looks like the _Bermuda_ has already shown up on their sensors. Somehow, they detected an anomaly inside of the vessel, you're to inspect it when you reach the Fleet.]'

 _Why would they wait for me to come back to the Migrant Fleet to investigate the derelict Prothean ship? Something doesn't add up._

 _'_ _I agree, I'll infiltrate their network to see if there is any information for the vessel.'_

 _Tell me what you find._

 _'_ _That is what I plan to do.'_

'[Xen, we were coming to pick you up for a training session, but if there is an anomaly aboard the ship, then I'll investigate what it is.]' I sent the reply back.

I went over to the elevator and took it down to the second floor. I stepped out and saw Lyna browsing over something on her omni-tool. Lyna spotted me and waved me over to her. "I was contacted by Daro'Xen, she says that there's some kind of Prothean ship that we are supposed to investigate before we pick her up."

"I got the same message, I'll be taking you and Samara aboard the ship just in case things go haywire," I replied as I was strolling over to Lyna.

I got a good look at Lyna. She had a Serrice Council pistol at her hip as well as an Asilic SMG. "While we wait for Samara to get over here, I wanted to ask something," stated Lyna and she smiled at me.

I picked up my backpack and the Striker VI off of a nearby crate before replying to Lyna. "Don't leave me hanging, Lyna. What is your question?"

"About our training, how do you plan to carry two weapons without some sort of sling or magnetic clamp? Better yet, how are you planning to go into combat with no armor?" Lyna asked and looked over me. I was wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

I shrugged and pressed a button on the Striker VI for it to fold up, so I could put it into my backpack. "I'll use up one of my many favors that the Migrant Fleet owes me. I'll get some armor that way."

"You know you could just use some of my armor, or I could get you a suit Asari armor."

"I don't have breasts, Lyna. The Migrant Fleet owes me more than several favors, I'm sure that they can develop armor for me, free of charge."

Samara came out of the hall that led to the observation deck and came right up to me and Lyna. "What is happening? I was led to believe that we were docking with a Quarian vessel, not an unknown frigate."

"Change of plans, the frigate is a Prothean vessel. The Quarians detected an anomaly inside of it, I'll be taking you and Lyna aboard the frigate to investigate," I quickly explained to Samara.

Samara didn't reply, she merely just nodded her head, then stared outside of the viewport, gazing upon the Migrant Fleet. I looked at the shuttle bay window with confusion and saw the Prothean frigate right outside of the window.

"We have docked with the Prothean vessel," Sirius's voice came over the intercom.

Samara stared at me for a couple of seconds before speaking. "Do you know what we will find on this frigate?"

"Anything is possible, I do not know what we'll find in there. Be prepared for anything," I replied to Samara. I was still staring at the Prothean ship right outside of the _Bermuda_. I set my backpack down and took the Phaeston out of it. "Come on, let's get this over with."

I pressed the button to unfold the Phaeston and walked towards the elevator with Samara and Lyna trailing behind me. We entered the elevator and rode up to the main floor of the _Bermuda,_ where we proceeded into the airlock. "Decontamination in progress, please wait to board _The Wrath of Emperor Ikaali_ ," a Prothean-sounding voice flatly spoke.

The airlock opened, revealing a tube to the Prothean Frigate. As I walked through the tube, there weren't too many windows, those windows let me see the Migrant Fleet at its finest.

I proceeded into the airlock of the Prothean ship, which opened mysteriously in front of us as we approached. I activated my omni-tool's flashlight and entered the Prothean vessel. I saw a shadow quickly move out of my field of vision. "If you see any movement, do not attack it until it is proven hostile," I whispered my orders to Samara and Lyna.

"Got it," Lyna whispered back while Samara simply nodded her head.

"I'll activate my cloak and scout around, see what I can find," I whispered to Lyna and Samara.

I activated my tactical cloak and moved deeper into the ship, each step I took echoed into the next room. I looked over to a console which had red error messages all over it. I walked up to the console, and started to read the messages.

As soon as I got close enough to read the message, the console flashed and displayed two sentences. [Boarders detected, one Inusannon and two Asari. Activating main generators, deactivating cryogenic stasis.]

 _'_ _There is a Prothean in the room to your left. I recommend that you head back to Lyna and Samara.'_

 _There's Protheans other than Javik that are alive?_

 _'_ _Yes, we came just in the nick of time. If we arrived in 2080, they would have died due to their systems failing. Expect disorientation, they might attack you as you are a boarder.'_

 _I didn't sign up to take care of disoriented Protheans. Take control of their systems, let the Quarians deal with it._

 _'_ _I may be an Inusynthetic, but I'm not able to crack through Prothean firewalls in a short amount of time. Especially when I'm browsing through the extranet looking for Morinth and managing your luxury corvette.'_

I shut off the connection with Sirius and turned my head to the room to my left. I saw two cryogenic pods open up at the same time. As the pods opened up they let out loud high pitched noise. I heard Lyna yell. "What in the name of the Goddess herself is that noise?"

I pushed myself away from the console that I was previously standing at, and sprinted back the way I came. My cloak deactivated as I ran to the Asari. Samara's voice echoed through the hallways, giving me a hint to where they stood. "I believe that Kyle may have activated something that he shouldn't have."

"Remind me not to give him access to ancient technology," Lyna said, looking at Samara with a frown on her face.

"Now is not the time for jokes, Rilac."

A ping on my omni-tool alerted me that my tactical cloak was recharged. I caught the gaze of the two Asari, who waved me over to them. "I'm pretty sure I did something wrong," I whispered in a panicked state.

"No shit..." Lyna trailed off, and aimed her SMG at my head, she looked like she was ready to pull the trigger. I was about to raise my arms above my head in surrender, when I heard something behind me. I quickly turned around, which turned out to be a mistake on my part.

A cold three fingered hand lifted me up off the ground by my shirt collar. Four orange colored eyes stared into mine, the hand around my collar tightening its grip. I lifted my foot up in response, and kicked the figure in the abdomen, trying to get it to drop me to the floor. I heard a growl, and I was flung into a wall by the figure.

I caught a glimpse of Samara and Lyna with their biotics activated, the figure rushed forwards, pinning Samara against a wall, and holding Lyna's Serrice Council pistol to Lyna's head. "You will tell me why you are trespassing upon on my frigate, and why an Inusannon is with you," the figure spoke in a raspy voice.

I slowly pushed myself up off the floor, my body aching from being flung into a wall. I softly inhaled, before approaching the figure. "We did not mean to trespass. We were asked to investigate a mysterious frigate that was approaching the Migrant Fleet." I lied, as I could not tell the hostile figure that I ordered a few Quarian ships to pull it out of another system.

"I do not appreciate when people lie to me. You may be an Inusannon, but you have trespassed upon my ship, and that makes you an enemy of the Prothean Empire," the figure said, and strengthened its grip on Lyna's neck. "I'll give you one more chance to tell the truth. If you lie again, I will kill you, and enslave your primitive comrades."

I quickly thought up a plan to get it to join my side. "How about I tell you what you want to hear, and then we can work together for a common goal. That goal is eliminating the Reapers."

I looked at the Prothean and squinted my eyes, it blinked and studied me. "So my people did not defeat the Reapers?" The Prothean asked, gently taking her hand off of Samara, and lowering the pistol that was aimed at Lyna's head. The Prothean's voice was higher pitched than what I expected. I assumed it was a female Prothean due to its head structure and tone of voice.

I glanced over to the two Asari, who were just now recovering from their near death experience. Lyna was the first to get up, activating her biotics and slowly approached the Prothean as she was distracted by me. I quickly shook my head, ordering Lyna to stand down with my facial features. Lyna looked at me, and backed away to help Samara up.

I shook my head and looked to the ground, wanting to apologize to the Prothean. "No, your people died fighting for their lives. From what I know, there are just a few remaining Protheans that are alive in cryo-stasis," I quietly said, raising my head up to look at the Prothean's facial features. It looked like it was sad, but surprised at the same time.

"How much time does this cycle have to prepare for the Reaper invasion?"

"109 years, if you must know. I've already started to prepare the species of the galaxy for the invasion."

The Prothean stared at me for a second, before quickly rushing forwards, grabbing my arms, and staring into my eyes. Her eyes turned from a deep orange to a light blue. While this transition was happening, I felt another presence enter my mind. It definitely wasn't as pleasant as an Asari melding process.

[-]

Date: Unknown month, unknown day. 48141 years before discovery of _The Wrath of Emperor Ikaali_.

A green particle beam streaked across space, hitting a Reaper's kinetic barriers and immediately disappearing. The Reaper roared, firing its magnetohydrodynamic beams towards the attacking ship.

The ship had the same appearance as a Prothean frigate, it jumped out of the system, leaving a nuclear mine behind it.

The mine blew up as the Reaper spun up it's FTL drives, ready to chase after the frigate. The capital-class Reaper lit up in flames, engulfed by the nuclear fire. "Hostile Reaper eliminated. Warning: Reaper Fleet forming an attack on the colony of Fehl Prime. Mass Relay is surrounded by twenty Reaper Sovereign-class vessels, and four indoctrinated vessels," a synthetic voice informed the captain of _The Wrath of Emperor Ikaali_.

"I see… Is there any other exit out of the system?" the captain nervously asked.

"Recommendation: Prepare remaining crew members for cryo-stasis. We will monitor the systems of this ship until the Reapers have given up their search," the synthetic voice said again, making the acting captain sigh.

"Very well… Do not wake us until we are boarded, or there are confirmed reports that the Reaper Threat has been eliminated."

"Acknowledged."

The captain pushed herself up from where she sat in a throne-like seat. She waited until all of her crew members were in stasis, then entered into a stasis pod. "The souls of the past emperors will guide us to salvation, and it shall not be through our destruction."

[-]

"You are Kyle Jonathan Terrah, an Inusannon experiment. You are 25 years old, and you were taken from your homeworld 62 years ago via Inusannon interference. They experimented on you and you became an Inusannon/Human hybrid, or an Inuhuman. You also have an Inusynthetic that has the designation of Sirius-928," the female Prothean muttered under her breath.

I nodded my head slowly and glanced behind me to Lyna and Samara. Both of the Asari were standing still, not moving a muscle. I looked back to the female Prothean that had infiltrated my mind and injected her visions into my brain. "What did I see while you were gathering my information?"

"You saw my most recent memories of the Prothean Extinction, as well as my cowardice against the Reapers," the Prothean trailed off at the last part.

"Ah, well we can talk about that later. As of now, I suggest that you stay with the Geth and the Quarians for a few years. Before I say anything else, the Geth are a race of AIs made by the Quarians. Don't reveal anything about yourself to the rest of the galaxy. I wouldn't want to cause mass panic in the galaxy before the Reapers arrive, we need to be subtle about this," I explained.

The female Prothean nodded. "I think that would be the best course of action. We will stay with the primitives for now, hopefully try to advance their technology. I now know the languages that you know. For now, you can call me Delaki."

Samara finally said something after standing in shock for the whole conversation. "I never thought I would meet a Prothean, it is an honor to meet you."

Delaki stared at Samara in amusement. "'An honor to meet me.' That's cute. I would have expected you to be worshipping me right now… Oh how things change, because the last time that I saw your species, they were on the ground kneeling before my people."

 _Okay, I did not expect her to say that…_

 _'_ _I didn't either, this will certainly be an amusing reaction.'_

"What…" Lyna stared at Delaki with a confused look plastered on her face.

"I believe you can figure it out yourself. If primitives using stone tools could understand what I meant, then you can figure it out yourself," Delaki chuckled, and took a step towards Lyna.

Lyna immediately backed away from the Prothean, activating her biotics as she did. "Don't take a step closer to me… I'll be sure to make your life a living hell."

"Oh? An Asari with an actual gut? I never thought I'd see the day," Delaki condescendingly chuckled. I could see four figures standing in the shadows, simply staring at us blankly, "Taunts aside, give me a moment to talk with the remainder of my crew… We need to plan out our actions."

I sighed, and put my hand on the Prothean's shoulder, forcing her to look at me. "I think that we should dock with a Quarian medical ship known as the _Vertilex_. I'd recommend seeking either medical help, or refuge there."

Delaki nodded her head, knowing that was the best course of action. "I'll confirm that with my crew… Hopefully we can convince the Quarians to build a device known as the Crucible."

My eyes widened, and I quickly shook my head. "I don't think that's the best course of action. Based on what Inusannon databases have told me, the Crucible will backfire, and the Reapers will not be destroyed."

"Then those databases lied. When we found a living Inusannon Intelligence in the final days of the Prothean Empire, it told us that the Crucible was the only way to defeat the Reaper Threat," the Prothean sighed.

 _'_ _I need to speak to the Prothean, activate your omni-tool so I can explain a few things to her.'_

 _You know that the Protheans absolutely hate AIs, right? I mean, even as this Prothean didn't react to the Geth statements, she could still hold hostilities against you._

 _'_ _I do not care, open up your omni-tool now.'_

 _Fine._

I activated my Nexus IV, letting Sirius display itself in front of the acting Prothean captain and her crew. His form appeared in front of her, seemingly startling her quite a bit. "I've been listening in on your conversation with Kyle. It seems that you found a corrupted Inusynthetic, I believe the organic term would be indoctrinated," stated Sirius, it's hologram circled around Delaki.

"Corrupted Inusynthetic? I have never heard that term before, but I am interested in hearing more about your host's claims about the Crucible being another trap by the Reapers."

Sirius pulled up a few screens from his database, making my omni-tool serve as a projector for the holographic displays. "A Corrupted Inusynthetic is an indoctrinated Inusynthetic. In the early days of our conflict with the Reapers, we found a Katazogi data cache on the planet of Izosegador IV. It contained information on the Crucible which gave us the intelligence on the device being another way to harvest the species of the galaxy. When the Crucible fires, if a species ever gets to that point, the device will backfire, leaving the Reapers alive, and the species defenseless. All of their technology would be deactivated, all of their augmented soldiers would be vaporized."

A holographic screen formed in front of the Prothean, revealing all of the information that Sirius had on the matter. It displayed pictures of the race known as the Katazogi, and had small readings on the Crucible's true functions. From what I could see, one of the sections stated that when the Crucible fires, it lets out a powerful electromagnetic pulse. The Reapers are then able to harvest the species from their malfunctioning ships.

Delaki read through the sections, often blinking her four eyes in disbelief at what she was reading. She eventually took a step back, and closed her eyes, shaking her head from side to side. "This doesn't make sense… Why didn't the Inusannon inform us about this? Why didn't they prepare us so that we would stand a chance against the Reapers?"

"We attempted to contact your race. Sadly, we had to escape from the Reaper threat before we were able to establish communications with your race," Sirius blankly stated.

Delaki squinted at Sirius, then turned her gaze towards me. "As much as I hate to say it, I believe the both of you. After the rehabilitation of my crew and I is complete, I expect for myself and my crew to be treated more than fairly while with the younger races. I'm not entirely happy about working with AI either, but any enemy of the Reapers is a friend of mine."

"Kyle, I do not believe that we should continue with the idea of your 'training.' Given what has happened recently, I think we should just contemplate what to do next," whispered Samara.

I temporarily ignored Samara to reply to Delaki. "We'll need all the help that we can get to prepare for the Reapers. It is also nice to hear that you will work with the younger races to prepare for the Reaper invasion."

"Working with them should be interesting, as opposed to having them work for me. I suppose that cooperation is better to prepare."

I nodded at Delaki and motioned Samara and Lyna towards the airlock. "Before I leave, I must say that the Quarians and the Geth have been recently allied. Don't try to cause any problems with them."

"Understood, InuHuman."

Date: August 2nd, 2077.

The _Bermuda_ docked with the _Vertilex_ after departing from the Prothean ship. I had just put on my breathing mask when Ithera walked up to me. "I can't believe that you've actually allied my people and the Geth. Seeing Rannoch in real life is breath-taking."

"It's amazing what a combination of Inuhuman and Inusynthetic can do, isn't it?" I replied after I finished equipping the Asari breathing mask.

Vodnik put on his mask and walked up behind Ithera. "Ithera, you're staying aboard the _Bermuda_ while Kyle and I get Daro'Xen."

"I'm going with the both of you, you'll need someone to guide you around the _Vertilex_. I grew up here, I know my way around," stated Ithera, trying to sound like he had authority in the matter.

I rolled my eyes and snorted. "I brought Daro'Xen to the _Vertilex_ for medical treatment, I know where to get her. If I get lost for whatever reason, Sirius will tell me where to go. You're staying on the _Bermuda_ until we get everything sorted out, and that is final."

Ithera glared at me and eventually walked away. "Bosh'tets," Ithera muttered as he left the room in defeat.

Vodnik shrugged and proceeded into the airlock, I followed him shortly afterwards. The decontamination process activated, clearing Vodnik and I of the bacteria that could infect the air of the _Vertilex_.

When the airlock opened, Vodnik and I were greeted by the same group of Quarian marines that I had met about a week ago. They were less hostile than when I first met them, so I easily spotted Lera'Gerrel in the six-man squad of Quarian marines.

Daro'Xen was leaning against one of the windows which looked out upon the rest of the Migrant Fleet. "It's about time you arrived. I was starting to think you would never show up, Kyle."

"Well, I did have to establish first contact inside of that Prothean vessel. Turns out the anomaly aboard the Prothean frigate, _The Wrath of Emperor Ikaali_ , was real, live Protheans," I said with an amused tone.

"Protheans. You found actual Protheans. I don't believe it."

"You better start believing it, right now they're heading to this ship for refuge and medical examinations."

"Rehabilitation? For what?"

I sighed. "Okay, so you're saying that you would be completely fine with your species being wiped out from the Reaper Invasion, and you only find out 50,000 years later? Because I'd be pretty pissed off if I slept through that."

"Do you have to be sarcastic?" Xen asked, crossing her arms over her breasts.

I nodded my head as a reply and leaned back against a wall. Vodnik chimed into the conversation. "Based on what has happened in the last few hours, Kyle, I think we should call off the training. I'd recommend that you just have your Asari friend to improve your combat skills."

"Are you serious?" I asked, and looked at Vodnik with a dirty scowl on my face. "Of all the people that would have backed down from training, I'd never expect it to be you."

"I do not make jokes, Kyle Terrah. You are a civilian, you are not ready for this. Even with me by your side, you'd only be a dead weight. Train with Lyna Rilac instead of jumping right into combat when you don't know what you're doing," Vodnik turned around and stared out of one of the viewing windows. He stood there for a few moments before turning back to me. "I'm going with Samara, her sense of 'justice' appeals to me. In the years that I am gone, you will hone your combat skills to the best that they can be with Lyna's help."

"So you're leaving? Just like that? After all that we have been through?" I asked, completely dumbfounded by Vodnik's sudden statement.

He nodded in my direction, then crossed his arms together. "I don't have the patience to deal with all of this political bullcrap that has been going on in the past few weeks. Honestly, you can play peace-maker all you want, but my purpose is to fight, not be a politician."

"If Samara found out about your origins, she would most likely kill you due to her code. I don't even know where you came from, or what you did for a living, but going with her is a big risk."

"You act as if I would spill every bit of information on me. I'm not going to tell Samara anything, and if she asks, I'll make something up."

I shook my head at Vodnik, a frown coming onto my face. "Okay. Look, if you want to go with Samara and risk your life, that's fine by me. Just put more thought into this, because I certainly don't want to be the only Human in the galaxy for 70-80 years."

"I've already made up my mind, and you won't be able to dissuade me."

I knew that I could not change Vodnik's mind on this matter, so I just exhaled and turned my head towards Daro'Xen. "Before we part separate ways, I'll need everyone to listen for a few seconds. During the discussion of Geth/Quarian peace, Ferryn'Artrem vas Moreh did not agree with the alliance that I was speaking of. She attempted to sabotage the diplomatic meeting by holding Kapo'Xen at gunpoint."

Xen stepped back for a moment, she stared at me second. "The Fleet has been going off because of this for a couple of days, no one believed it at first. From what I know, she's a very experienced fighter, even when her main occupation is cybernetic experimentation."

"She was about to shoot him when his kinetic barriers were down. Fortunately, the Geth Platform that I brought into this system to discuss the alliance intervened and effectively disabled her. I do have a question, what type of cybernetic experiments did Ferryn conduct?" I nervously inquired, as I feared what Ferryn might have experimented with.

Xen pulled up a screen on her omni-tool, and showed a few pictures to me. The devices in the pictures were dark purple, and the devices pulsated with blue biotic energy. I stepped back for a moment, knowing exactly what the devices were. "Are those things still on the Migrant Fleet?"

Daro shook her head and looked at me quizzically. "They were delivered to a Turian colony as a gift. Why do you look so panicked, they were harmless?"

 _'_ _Reaper technology. The Reaper tech that we saw in those pictures, they are used to indoctrinate an entire planet. Ferryn'Artrem is most likely indoctrinated, as well as millions of people.'_

 _Do you know of any way to force the indoctrination out of someone's mind? If it is possible, then I want to know how it works. Just in case the Reapers manage to indoctrinate someone of major importance._

 _'_ _Well, you can kill them, but I don't think that was the answer you were looking for.'_

 _While keeping them alive, jeez you are like a Virtual Intelligence at times._

 _'_ _I was only joking. It takes a long time to force the indoctrination out of someone's mind, a few months to be exact. And that's with Inusannon technology. It has only successfully worked once. If we were to attempt that with Quarian technology, it would take a century.'_

 _Right. Even more reason to find the remnants of your people._

I looked at Xen in complete and utter fear, I slightly panicked. "What was the Turian colony? How many people were on it?"

"It was the Turian colony of Invictus, the population is about 280,000,000. You're acting stranger than usual. What is wrong with you?"

"Words can't even describe how much the Quarians screwed up by not destroying that technology. That was Reaper technology, it may not make much sense now, but that entire colony needs to be destroyed," I shakily said, my voice fluctuating as I spoke. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that almost three hundred million people were indoctrinated by the Reapers.

Daro'Xen shook her head and sighed. "As I've said before, those devices are harmless. Though some members of the _Moreh_ did complain of headaches while the devices were on the Moreh."

"And how long were these devices on the _Moreh_?"

Daro'Xen was about to reply, but was cut off by many mechanical noises of the _Vertilex_. I looked outside of the viewport, and saw _The Wrath of Emperor Ikaali_ beginning its docking procedures.

 **A/N: This was a pretty confusing chapter to write. I've started to develop sound effects for some of the weapons that will be used in the future of ME: B. As well as some soundtracks.**

 **This chapter was pretty long, and I am sorry about any delays that may have occurred while getting this chapter out.**


	16. Chapter 16: The Meeting With Aria T'Loak

Chapter 16:

Date: August 1st, 2077.

Xen looked to the viewport and immediately backed up at the sight of the Prothean ship that was now docked with the _Vertilex_. I turned my gaze to Xen, a sigh emitting out of my mouth. "If you are not coming with Vodnik and I back to the _Bermuda_ , then we will be leaving now. The Quarian people can sort out Ferryn's trial and the Prothean's reintroduction into galactic society. I will return to you in a few months."

"You still have yet to explain to me why you are so scared of something so harmless." Xen slowly said, her body language indicating that she was confused.

"All that I will say is that Reaper Indoctrination is terrible," I said, then turned around to face Vodnik, who had not moved from his original position beside me. "Vodnik, you and Samara may take the XER-21 shuttle that is in the _Bermuda_. If you're going to be fighting alongside her, people will see you. Is that a risk that you are willing to take?"

Vodnik turned his gaze to me without moving his head. "I could ask you the same." He made a sweeping motion gesture towards the ships of the Migrant Fleet beyond a view-port that wasn't obstructed by a Prothean frigate. "You took the same exact risk by coming to this fleet. You took an even bigger risk by heading to their homeworld and putting your life on the line for species that you owe nothing to, all to forge an alliance that you weren't sure would even work. If you can take such risks, why shouldn't I?" Vodnik sighed. "I need to get out there. I'm a mercenary, I need action. I'm a killer, I need to kill. The entire galaxy has opened up to me, and staying with you is only holding me back from experiencing it all. If pursuing my desires means people will see me, then so be it. Keeping humanity a secret is of no concern to me."

I sighed, and looked towards Daro'Xen who was now walking away from Vodnik and I to investigate the newly docked Prothean frigate. I opened my mouth to call out to her, but closed it when she turned a corner. I turned my gaze to Vodnik, who seemed as impassive as ever. "Just follow Samara's orders from now on, okay? She'll kill anyone who commits a major crime, no matter who it is."

"You act like I'm an amateur, Terrah. I'm sure you've figured it out by now, but if not, I'll let you in on a small secret: I kill for a living. I'm a contract killer, a hitman, an assassin, a mercenary, whatever you want to call me. A damn good one too. I would've been killed at some point over the past two decades if I wasn't. Most importantly, I'm a professional. You don't have to tell me that non-target casualties should be avoided. I know from experience that doing such only complicates a job," Vodnik stated. He motioned towards the airlock that we entered and started to walk over to it.

I followed Vodnik and put my hand on his shoulder to stop him. "No matter how long you've been on the 'field,' you're not trained to be able to handle Samara."

Vodnik sighed and continued walking towards the airlock. It was obvious to me that he had his mind set on joining Samara, and I would not be able to convince him otherwise. "Do not be concerned with my wellbeing. If I end up dead, then I will probably have deserved it. But I will not die quietly. Besides, I'm smart enough to avoid getting on the wrong side of Samara's 'Code,' or whatever it is. We have the same view on how criminals should be treated. I think we'll get along rather well."

"Just try to stay safe. I wouldn't want to see you turn up as an experiment for the STG or a Batarian slaver group."

Vodnik stayed silent, and I did as well. We both waited until the decontamination process finished, and allowed us onto the _Bermuda_. I shook my head and walked away from Vodnik, as my conversation was over with him.

 _This isn't good, Sirius. I don't think Vodnik should go out with Samara like this.._

' _Vodnik is his own person. From what I've seen in him so far, he would have a better survival chance than you. We both know what needs to be done, and Vodnik would only be strengthening our cause.'_

 _Yes, we need to prepare for the Reaper Invasion._

' _It is up to us to rally whatever allies we can. Though I recommend that you train with Lyna for a few years and gather as much information about the current state of the Galaxy as possible.'_

 _Got it. I'll send Ithera back to the Vertilex. As for Samara and Vodnik? They will take a shuttle to wherever they want to go._

' _Sounds good, I'll continue to search for any traces of Morinth on the extranet. You may want to go talk to Lyna about our next destination.'_

 _Well in that case, where is Lyna on the ship?_

' _She was last training her biotics in her quarters.'_

 _Got it, thank you Sirius._

I made my way down the bridge to Lyna's room. I just wanted to catch up with Lyna and see how she was feeling. Mostly just to make sure that she was okay. I opened the door to her quarters, where I saw her with her omni-tool activated.

From what I could see, she was talking to another Asari on it. The other Asari had a face that I had seen many times before, and I stepped back a bit upon seeing her. Lyna quickly turned towards me as she heard the door open, her eyes widened when she caught sight of me.

"Kyle, I thought you were going to get Xen. Why isn't she with you?" Lyna asked with a very confused expression on her face.

"Xen's not coming with us, she's going to be helping with taking care of the Prothean crew from _The Wrath of Emperor Ikaali_. The training exercises that we were going to be doing have been canceled. Samara and Vodnik are going to be hunting down the unjust, and Ithera will be going aboard the Vertilex to return to his people. That leaves you and me," I calmly explained to Lyna.

Finally the person on Lyna's omni-tool spoke up. "How was I not informed of another one of these things being present?"

I almost instantly recognized her voice. I stood there, unmoving as I was in Aria's presence. Eventually I gathered the courage to speak. "I assume that you are Aria T'Loak. I've heard quite a bit about you."

"Really now?" Aria curiously asked. She paused for a few moments. "Rilac, I expect to see you both on Omega. Whatever plans you have at the moment, cancel them."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise, and looked towards Lyna. I didn't want to piss off Aria, but I also did not want to go on Omega just yet. "Oh, okay. We'll arrive at Omega as soon as possible in a Dystopia Class Corvette," Lyna nervously spoke.

"I'll be waiting for your arrival." Aria then shut off the 'call' to Lyna's omni-tool.

 _You got that, Sirius?_

' _Yes, I'm getting the coordinates of Omega now. We'll be there in six hours without delays.'_

A few seconds after Aria's display disappeared, and Lyna sat down on the _Bermuda_ 's flooring shortly after that. She put her hands on her head, and started to rub it. "I'm mentally worn out, and I really don't have the energy to face Aria..."

I walked up and sat down in front of Lyna. I slowly took her wrists in my hands, then moved them so she could see me. When I moved Lyna's hands off her face, I noticed that her eyes were bloodshot, she looked very stressed out.

I stepped away from Lyna for a moment, leaning against a nearby wall. "The next century will be hard for the both of us. I can't predict the future, but I do know that our lives will be tough from here on out."

"Will we ever have a day of rest?" Lyna asked, sighing shortly afterwards.

"I'm sure that we'll get breaks every so often. I just want to say that I can't imagine doing this without you," I honestly spoke, putting my hand on Lyna's shoulder.

Lyna shook her head and looked to the side. "From all that we have done so far, I would think that we would be set. You reunited the Geth and the Quarians within a year of you being by my side, you solved a two century long war in just a few words."

I sighed and stood up, offering my hand to Lyna. She silently took it, allowing me to pull her up from the floor. I took the opportunity to pull her into a tight embrace when I pulled her up. "Lyna, there is no need to be stressed at what has happened in the last few days. Plans have already been set in motion, and we are the only ones to stop the events from happening. After we head to Omega, and see what Aria wants, we'll head to the Inusannon structure on Aite. I need to get some tech that I may have overlooked while I was treating Xen."

"I really don't want to go to Omega right now, Kyle. I need some rest, and I know that you do too," Lyna stretched her words out as much as possible. I could notice that the Asari was mentally and physically worn out from all the moving around at the time. She weakly wrapped her arms around me to return the hug.

' _I really think that you should get some rest. You need it, and I can only keep your body awake for so long.'_

 _Rest can come later, Sirius. There's too much to prepare for to waste it on a nightmarish sleep._

' _Keep that attitude up, and you will die soon.'_

 _Are you going to fry my implants if I don't lay down in a bed?_

' _All organic life requires rest. You are no exception to this.'_

 _Fine… I'll try to get some rest. Moderate my dreams when I am asleep, I have had some very vivid dreams in the last few days._

' _I can hear your thoughts, but I can't monitor your dreams. I'm not full of magic.'_

 _Useless._

' _I'll pretend I didn't hear that for now, I'll need you to tell the Quarian and Geth fleets that we're undocking from the Vertilex and heading out of the system before you drift into sleep.'_

 _Fine, wake Lyna and I up if anything abnormal occurs on the way to Omega._

"Alright, just allow me to tell the Not-so Migrant Fleet that we are leaving the system. Get yourself some rest, and I'll do so myself after I give out some commands," I quietly replied to Lyna, and lightly pushed her away from me.

Lyna nodded her head, and walked over to her bed. She sat down on it, and let out a long sigh. "Promise me that you will take care of yourself. You may be a hybrid of two species, but you need to take breaks, just like every other species in this galaxy."

"I promise. I'll see you in less than six hours," I said, then waved a goodbye to Lyna. I exited her quarters and marched to the bridge. Sitting down in the pilot's chair, I browsed through a few holo-screens.

 _Send a few messages to Kapo'Xen and the rest of the Admiralty Board. Tell Ithera that he should get off of the Bermuda and board the Vertilex, then open the shuttle bay doors to allow Samara and Vodnik to exit via the Xer-21 Shuttle._

' _I can do this on my own, Terrah. You need to get some rest immediately.'_

I let out a long sigh and reclined in the pilot's chair. I closed my eyes and let myself drift into sleep. As the worries on my mind faded away, I began to feel almost at peace, but this peace soon changed to images of a war unfamiliar to me.

[-]

 _I was in a shuttle with Lyna and a Quarian that was out of their suit. The Quarian was holding an oddly shaped SMG that let off a soft green glow. I could see that the Quarian was female, who had burns all over her hands and wrists. She seemed to be inserting a molten green and yellow materials into the weapon._

 _I turned my head over to Lyna, who was piloting our shuttle down to the surface of the planet. From what I could see, there was a raging battle occurring on the ground below us. The Quarian turned her head towards me and began to speak. "I believe that I detect Reaper and pre-war Inusannon technology beneath the surface of Favique. This could be a cause of the battle on the surface."_

" _Then we need to destroy the Reaper tech and make sure that it does not fall into indoctrinated hands. Teval, I'll need you to guard the shuttle while Lyna and I try to locate the Reaper tech. If anything goes wrong, alert the Inusannon Fleet right outside of this system," I ordered the Quarian, who finished injecting the molten materials into her weapon._

" _Understood."_

 _I glanced out of the shuttle's window for a split second after we cleared the cloud coverage, and saw something that made me shake in fear. In the center of the battle, I saw a capital-class Reaper who I quickly identified as Sovereign. "Lyna! Alter our course! I'd rather not be-"_

 _I was cut off by an explosion occurring on the outside of the shuttle, and I was thrown into the Quarian that sat beside me. I rolled off of her, and saw the ground quickly approaching. Lyna was desperately trying to regain control of the shuttle before we impacted with the ground._

 _I blacked out for a few seconds, then regained my consciousness and unsteadily pushed myself off of the metal flooring of the shuttle. I limped over to where Lyna was leaning over the flickering holographic displays of the Xer-21 shuttle that we were in. I put an unsteady hand on to Lyna's shoulder, and pulled her unconscious body up to face me._

 _Lyna's face was covered in her purple blood and I could see a few small cuts on her wrists. I rapidly took out a bit of medi-gel and smeared it over the wound on her wrist. She weakly flickered her eyelids looked down at her wound as she was only just coming out of an unconscious state. Her eyes widened at the deep cut that had been etched onto her carpals. "Goddess, what in the name of your hell happened?"_

" _Sovereign shot us out of the sky during our entry into Favique's atmosphere. From what I can tell, we're in some type of forest," the augmented Quarian answered Lyna's question for me, and gestured to the shuttle's doors. "I think we should get out of the shuttle, then split up to make ourselves a tinier target."_

 _I blankly looked at the Quarian. "Split up? So Sovereign and his thralls can pick us off one by one? Or an even worse fate, capture us, indoctrinate us, and force us to join Saren on a journey of eliminating all life in the galaxy? Hell no."_

" _Our tech will rival the Reapers' soon, we'll be able to fend for ourselves."_

" _You may have developed the Bane of the Reapers and the T-43 Lavar SMG, but that mean that we all have better tech than Sovereign and his thralls."_

 _I was cut off at the sound of a magnetohydrodynamic beam firing, and time seemed to slow down for me. I saw the shuttle's doors start to melt, and the beam forced itself into the shuttle's interior. I felt myself being ripped apart on a molecular level, and I saw Lyna's body being vaporized._

 _The Quarian that had stood by my side had already been burnt to ash, and I heard one thing before I joined Lyna in death. "You will serve us, Terrah."_

[-]

I awoke with a gasp as my horrific dream ended. I looked around the _Bermuda_ 's bridge, confused as to where I was at for a few seconds. Lyna was patiently sitting by my side, and Sirius's hologram seemed to be speaking to her.

Lyna noticed that I was awake, and held her hand up to Sirius's hologram to stop him from speaking. "We're about ten minutes out from Omega. Sirius and I spoke of Omega as you were sleeping, and I'd like to lay down some ground rules before we board the station."

"Lay it on me. It can't be any worse than my dreams," I spoke with a hint of humor in my voice.

"I suggested that you and Lyna keep close to each other during your time on Omega. I know that you would have done this anyways, but maybe not as often. If you two are going to be on one of the most dangerous stations in the galaxy, you need to stick together at all times," Sirius interjected before Lyna could even open her mouth.

I rubbed my eyes, and pushed myself up in my seat to fix my posture. "I wasn't planning on straying far from Lyna's side anyways." I then turned my gaze to Lyna, who had been staring at me since I woke up. "You visited Omega in 2076, right?"

Lyna nodded her head. "Yep. That's where I picked up Vodnik and Ithera. You may know about the Omega in the 2180s, but I know about the Omega in this time period."

"Then it would be best to stick together every single second of the day, since you have more knowledge about this place than I do. Still, I don't feel like having to fight off Batarian slavers when I have little to no combat training," I mumbled, half awake.

Lyna let out a long sigh, and looked at Sirius's hologram. "To my knowledge, we're not going to stay on Omega for long. After all, it is the heart of evil."

As soon as Lyna stopped speaking, the _Bermuda_ arrived in the Omega Nebula. I looked out one of the view ports to my left and saw the far-away glow of the Omega 4 Relay. I looked down to the _Bermuda_ 's flooring, and nervously rubbed my arms upon the realization that we weren't very far away from Omega. "I am not looking forwards to this. Not at all."

"We'll be fine. Aria and I owe a few favors to each other. She'll hopefully give us protection," Lyna replied. I turned my gaze from the faint glow of the Omega 4 Relay over to Lyna. I studied her features, and she looked relatively calm, despite our planned arrival onto Omega.

I arched a brow at Lyna's words. "What favors are you talking about?"

She looked away from me, over to the glow of the Omega-4 Relay. "It's complicated. I did a few things for Aria a couple of centuries ago while I was on a small break from training as a Huntress."

"And what were these things?" I calmly inquired. Curiosity was displayed on my face.

Lyna turned her head to gaze into my eyes. She blinked a few times before sighing and leaning back in her chair. She now stared at one of the omni-displays in front of her. "I eliminated those who opposed her after she gained control of the station."

I nervously exhaled, and attempted to change the subject. "Sorry if I seem overly nervous, but seeing Omega on a computer monitor is much different than stepping foot on it."

Lyna stood up, and offered her hand to help me get up out of the pilot's seat. I took her hand, and she helped me up to my feet. "I was just like you when I boarded Omega for the first time. You're only more likely to die if you are not armed. If you don't have a weapon on you, you'll be easy prey for the slavers."

"If you say so. I'm going to get my things together, and hopefully I can get some damn armor on Omega," I told Lyna, then started to walk away from her. I made my way down the bridge of the _Bermuda_ , and over to where I had put the Phaeston.

I bent down, and inspected the Phaeston from where it was leaned against a wall. I heard Lyna walk past me, and I assumed that she was going to get her weaponry. I picked the Phaeston up, and searched for the safety of the weapon. I couldn't find any buttons or switches on either side of the Phaeston, so I opened up my omni-tool and began scanning it.

I stared at the Nexus IV's display screen, and eventually found out that the safety was a switch that was located on the weapon's grip.. I carefully deactivated the Phaeston's safety, and watched as the cyan LEDs on the sides of the Phaeston activated.

For my own protection, I turned the safety back on. I looked over the weapon one more time, seeing if it had been damaged in any way since the last time that I had it in my hands.

' _We're about five minutes out from Omega. If there's anything that you need to grab before we dock, I recommend that you do it quickly.'_

 _I believe that I'll be fine with the Phaeston. I'll be by Lyna's side at all times. I hope her huntress training is enough to protect both of us._

' _All we will be doing is meeting Aria T'Loak, then immediately leaving Omega. We should be cautious about what we say around her..'_

 _Yes Sirius, let's put all of our trust in a crime boss that we haven't even met yet._

' _I'm not saying that you should put all of your trust in her, I'm just saying that you should not show that you're fearful of Aria. You won't make a good impression if you appear nervous.'_

 _I'll try to be as calm as I can around her._

I immediately cut off the connection with Sirius when I heard Lyna approaching me from behind. I stood up with the Phaeston in my hand, and turned around to face Lyna. She held a Banshee III in her hands. "Are you ready, Kyle?"

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I'm not looking forwards to this, not one bit," I replied to Lyna. She quickly nodded, and started to walk down the bridge to the nearest airlock. I followed after her, and stumbled a bit when the _Bermuda_ shook as it decelerated from traveling at sublight speeds.

I regained my balance, and gazed forwards. Through one of the main viewports on the bridge, I saw it. I let my jaw drop slightly, as the space station was the biggest thing that I had seen in my life.

"Omega, one of the worst places in the Terminus Systems. Ranking just above Korlus on the daily murder rate," mumbled Lyna.

I glared at Lyna. "Gee, that makes me feel so much better about stepping foot on Omega."

"It's not like you didn't know that already."

I took a moment to walk over to the holo-displays in front of the pilot's seat, and checked if we were being hailed by anyone from Omega. Oddly enough, I saw nothing that indicated that we were being contacted by Omega's control station, if there was one.

Lyna came up behind me and lightly pulled me away from the console. As she pulled me away, I saw that we were entering Omega's city-scape. A loud mechanical noise echoed inside of the _Bermuda_ , signaling that we were docking with Omega.

I turned around to face the airlock, which had a green holo panel next to it instead of a red holo panel while in FTL. I gestured to the airlock with my Phaeston. "Let's get this over with, Lyna. I'd rather not keep Aria waiting."

I walked over to the airlock, taking the lead with Lyna following right behind me. I silently waited for the decontamination process to finish, then I noticed that the light on the airlock in front of me had turned from red to green. I slowly activated the door, letting it open right in front of me.

I was immediately greeted by a couple of Batarians in full armor. Most of the Batarians were armed with Executioner shotguns, and the leading Batarian had a scowl on his face. "Rilac, you and your 'Human' friend are to head to Afterlife immediately under our escort. If you refuse to comply, we will apprehend both of you and let Aria decide on what to do with you."

"Are you seriously suggesting that I am dumb enough to defy Aria's orders? Have you gotten into a fight with Gatatog Jurgek again, Frey?" Lyna jokingly asked.

"I may have been beaten by that Krogan in 2070, but that doesn't mean that you get to poke fun at it repeatedly," the Batarian known as 'Frey' smirked at Lyna. He then gestured down the hallway with his shotgun. "Enough joking around, I need to get you to Aria immediately or risk losing my limbs."

I just raised one of my eyebrows and kept quiet. I was smart enough to know when to open my mouth. "You lead the way, Frey," Lyna stated with a small smile on her face.

Frey nodded, then turned around and started to walk down the hallways of Omega. Lyna and I followed after him. I took in the 'scenery' of Omega, as it was something relatively new to me. I noticed that most of the people that we passed by gave me an odd look, more threatening than anything. I caught the eye of a Vorcha, who made the gesture of slitting my throat. My best course was to ignore him, as I didn't feel like getting in a fight any time soon.

I kept my calm attitude up, not showing any fear to the residents of Omega. In reality though, I felt fairly unsafe walking through the halls of the dreaded space station.

I finally caught a glimpse of the infamous Afterlife in all of its glory. The holographic lights and painfully loud music gave it away, though I did feel a bit nostalgic from hearing _Saki Kaskas - Callista_ from the outside of the club. An Elcor bouncer was standing outside of the club, almost exactly like I had seen in Mass Effect 2.

I walked right past the Elcor bouncer, following behind Frey and Lyna. This obviously triggered some distaste in the people that were waiting in line. I had a small smile on my face from skipping the line.

I saw a couple of Vorcha and an Asari who was flipping around a dangerous looking blade in her blue hands. She glanced up to me, and one of the Vorcha let out a very low hissing noise at me.

Lyna turned her head over to the other Asari, and flared her biotics for a second. She cloaked herself shortly after that, only to appear behind one of the Vorcha a second later. Lyna grabbed ahold of the Vorcha's head, violently twisting it to the side, and breaking his neck. The Vorcha's limp body fell to the floor as the bladed Asari and her other Vorcha comrade watched on.

The bladed Asari quickly pushed herself off of the couch that she was sitting on, and stabbed out at Lyna, who quickly dodged the incoming blade. Lyna's biotics flared once again, and the bladed Asari was on the floor with blood pouring out of her nose. The secondary Vorcha's head had been blown off by Frey, who was a few steps away from me. I noticed that he was now carrying an Executioner X shotgun.

Lyna wordlessly stepped away from the bloodied Asari and turned her gaze towards me. She put a single hand on my shoulder, and motioned for Frey to move on. I was speechless as we moved on, flabbergasted at how quickly Lyna had eliminated the bladed Asari and her Vorcha minions.

Eventually, I entered Afterlife's main floor. I gazed around the club, and took in the very same view that I got the first time that I played Mass Effect 2. Seeing the club through my own eyes was unbelievable. I stopped in my tracks for a few moments, as I was distracted by all the flashing lights and noise of the club.

Lyna took my arm, and lightly pulled me forwards. I yanked my arm out of Lyna's grasp, and started to walk towards the staircase that led up to Aria's couch. I was careful to keep behind Frey and Lyna, as I did not want to screw up in any way.

A Turian guard stopped me, opening his omni-tool and activating a scanning program. "Hold still, whatever you are," the guard commanded. A few readings popped up on his omni-tool, which he widened his eyes at.

"Other than me being an unknown, is there something wrong?" I asked.

The guard shook his head from side to side, gesturing towards the staircase while looking at my Phaeston. "Just pop the heatsink out of that, and you may proceed."

I turned my Phaeston to the side, taking a small cylinder out of my weapon, then pocketing it. I made my way up the staircase, and stopped right in front of Aria. I tightly gripped my Phaeston, and looked the fairly powerful Asari over. She let out a light chuckle from seeing me in person.

"You look like a weaker version of that other Human. At least he could hold a weapon correctly, you look like you'd drop it after the first bit of recoil." Aria commented, breaking the silence with her bone-chilling voice.

"I may not be as efficient in combat as Vodnik, but I know how to hold a weapon." I replied to Aria in the native Asari language.

Aria got up from where she sat on her couch, then pushed past Lyna. She was an inch away from my face when she spoke again. "I hope that you were informed of the single rule of Omega."

I nodded my head, and refused to step back from Aria. "I know of it already. 'Don't fuck with Aria.'"

"Good, I don't have to repeat myself for the thousandth time."

"I've been traveling this galaxy for about a year now. I've done my research," I trailed off, my words became a whisper at the end of my sentence.

"Oh? Well tell me what you have researched. I'm interested to see what an uncategorized species can tell me about the galaxy when they've only been here for a year," Aria sarcastically spat. She then moved over to her couch and sat down on it.

Lyna finally butted into the conversation. "Some things are better left unsaid, let's not press too deep into this, Aria."

Aria turned her gaze over to Lyna, then rolled her eyes. "Look who's being siding with the unknown species… Tell me what you are hiding from me, Nithil."

"You want to know what is being hidden from you?" I asked in a shaky tone. "About a century from now, the galaxy will experience a mass extinction, caused by millions, maybe even billions of Reapers."

Aria blankly stared at me for a few seconds, then turned her head back to Lyna. "Did his translator glitch? Half of what he said there was gibberish."

"It may be hard to understand Terrah at first. It took me a while to understand what he was saying," Lyna whispered to Aria. She slowly stepped closer to Aria, then looked back. Lyna gestured for me to come a bit closer, which I did.

"No shit it took you a while to understand what he is saying, he's a new species that is attempting to speak Thessian. I grasped most of what came out of his mouth, except this 'Reaper.'"

"The Reapers aren't exactly common knowledge, any document on them is quite rare. From what I know, the only databases that contain these documents are Prothean, Inusannon, and anything before that," I gave a brief explanation to Aria.

My whole body showed that I was tense and nervous, making me appear weak. I was able to see that Aria had stood up again and walked behind me and Lyna.

She stopped a couple of meters behind us and turned around. "Well, I have no idea what you are talking about with these 'Inusannon,' and the Protheans are as mysterious as ever. I want information, and whether you two like it or not, you're going to give me what you have on these subjects."

 _Sirius, don't intervene. I'm not going to answer questions about you to Aria just yet._

' _As if I would show my presence so soon.'_

 _You seemed pretty eager to do so on the Migrant Fleet._

' _That was different, we were in a closed room in a diplomatic meeting. Here, we're having a chit chat with an Asari ruler in a public nightclub.'_

I let out a long sigh as I disconnected the link with Sirius. I turned around to face Aria shortly after Lyna did. I turned my head over to Lyna who had already started to speak. "Very well, Aria…" Lyna trailed off and she didn't look very happy upon receiving these orders. Lyna clenched her teeth and made it obvious to Aria that she was agitated. "We'll try to get the information to you in a solar month, how does that sound?"

"A solar month. That's reasonable enough, just make sure to deliver the data to me on time," Aria threatened.

Lyna held a cold stare with Aria for a few seconds before walking back down the staircase. She stopped mid-way, and motioned for me to follow her. I glanced over to Aria, who grinned at me as I looked at her.

I let out a long sigh and turned my head away from Aria. I stepped down the staircase right behind Lyna, then paused for half of a second.

 _Sirius, never mind about what I said, I'm really not feeling like having to travel to Omega twice in one year._

I received no response, so I turned around and heard my omni-tool activate. I made my way back towards Aria, and saw Sirius's projection come out of my omni-tool. "Asari Matron, ruler of Omega, infamous throughout the galaxy." Sirius's hologram appeared right in front of Aria, casting a neon blue hue through Afterlife.

"Oh, lookie here. A hologram listing out the most basic information in the galaxy. Did you really expect to scare me with this?"

Sirius only chuckled at Aria's statement. "Asari, please. I am not a mere hologram, I am a fully functioning Inusynthetic. If you must know, I hold a fraction of the data on my creators, the Inusannon."

Aria only raised a questioning eyebrow, then stepped forwards to inspect Sirius's hologram. "How about you give me some information on these 'Inusannon?'"

"For starters, they were a species that was previously thought to be extinct. The Inusannon are humanoid in appearance. Their average height was eight feet, or 2.4 meters. Most of my creators had very pale skin, though in some cases, an Inusannon was born with a grey skin tone. They were extensively fused with cybernetic enhancements and implementations from the time of their birth. The average Inusannon lived for 1,200 years. Is there anything else that you would wish to know, Asari?"

I looked over to Lyna, who simply stared at Sirius, Aria, and I. She seemed surprised, and began to advance up the steps once more. Aria nodded at Sirius and crossed her arms. "Of course I have more questions, we are talking about a species that has absolutely no reports on them after all. Tell me synthetic, what was their technology like?"

"The technology of the Inusannon was far more advanced than anything seen in this cycle. They created Artificial Intelligence that was not to be used for slavery or assistance, but instead to coexist with one another. The Inusynthetics invented cutting-edge nuclear, magnetohydrodynamic, and particle based weaponry. The Inusannon and their synthetic counterparts relied heavily on cybernetic implants and augmentations, most of which were used for medical and military needs," Sirius calmly explained. I was fairly shocked that he chose to reveal all of this to Aria at a moment's notice.

Aria appeared to be shocked as well, and Lyna had her mouth agape at all of this information. Aria regained her composure quickly. "AI coexisting with their creators, technology that triumphs the Protheans, implants? I find this all hard to believe, but I'll continue to play along. Why are the Inusannon no longer here?"

"They were pushed to near extinction by a genocidal armada of machines. These machines are called the Reapers, and are a threat to both Synthetic and Organic life. By the end of the Inusannon-Reaper war, the Inusannon had around 200,000 of their people left, with the numbers steadily dropping each day. The remaining Inusannon gathered their fleets, and rigged their homeworld with an unstable Pythet FTL drive capable of transforming their homeworld of Mertvyykamen into a fiery wasteland. Then they jumped out of the systems as the Reapers approached their colony, and entered an unknown system. Their current location is a mystery."

"How do I know that you are not lying? How do you expect me to believe all of this without solid proof?" Aria questioned, she looked a bit suspicious.

"If I must prove my word, then I will play a small video clip documenting the final moments of the Inusannon-Reaper War."

Aria nodded. "It could be fabricated, but play it. I could use some entertainment in the meantime."

Sirius's hologram held a cold stare with Aria for a few seconds. "Very well."

[-]

Date: December 21st, 109,368 years ago.

A planet's landscape was shown, and a burning metropolis was seen in the distance. Sovereign class Reapers were seen throughout the cityscape. A huge Inusannon vessel had crashed on the outskirts of the metropolis, and the Reapers were swarming the crash site.

An Inusannon carrying an ASAPC stepped in front of the camera. He bowed his head at the sight of the crashed vessel. "When will this war end? The Reapers continue to destroy our cities, corrupt our Inusynthetics, and indoctrinate our civilians…"

"And we'll find a way to stop the Reapers. If we are exterminated, I have a plan to bring our people back from the dead. A facility in the Phoenix Massing, filled to the brim with our technology and our DNA."

"What if the Reapers find that facility? I'm not exactly thrilled about the Reapers modifying our tech. They Just think about the devastation that a Reaper fleet with ISY-4 Rezanov cannons could do," the Inusannon stared at the ruins of the burning metropolis and gestured to it. "The cities that they have burned are bad enough, but if they got access to a Rezanov… We wouldn't have an escape plan."

The camera shifted around a bit before it looked around the surroundings. A cruiser could be seen battling a few Reapers in the distance. A blue beam shot from the front of the cruiser, burning a hole straight through a Sovereign class Reaper. Seconds later, the Reaper exploded in a ball of red flames.

The cruiser eventually fell from a swarm of the Reapers, and the camera looked down to the ground. "Evinatil, we need to leave the ruins of our home planet as soon as possible. An Inusynthetic vessel is preparing to detonate a Pythet Exploration FTL drive in this system."

"That's going… Tenokija, that's going to destroy everything! Millions will die!" Evinali stepped forwards, his eyes seemingly burning into Tenojika's soul.

"Sacrifices must be made in order to save our people…" Tenokija let out a long sigh. He looked back towards the debris of the cruiser falling towards the surface. "I'm not going to the fleet. I'm going to stay here, fighting for the Inusannon until the detonation of the Vonya FTL drive."

"I can't allow that to happen. Without you in the fleet… Things will fall apart."

The area around the camera was engulfed by a maroon biotic hue. "The fleet will survive without me! Now go, that's an order!"

Evinatil squinted, then turned around and was immediately shot in the head by a red particle beam. He fell to the ground with a thud. A hole was blasted through his head, and smoke was coming out if it.

A yellow glowing figure was seen by the camera, holding a seemingly modified ASAPC. The figure was heavily mutated by Reaper technology, and only grinned at Tenokija. "Ve'Skardi. You burn your own systems, killing billions in the process. You continue to fight an unstoppable force. So like the rest of your people, you will submit to us, or you will perish with the remainders of your race."

"Harbinger, you always seem to forget our previous conversations. The Inusannon will survive your cycle, and rebuild what was lost. We weren't fooled by the Crucible, and we will find another way to end your cycle."

As soon as Tenokija finished speaking, a blinding flash was seen over the horizon. A cleansing fireball swept over the relatively flattened terrain, burning everything that got in its path. The metropolis was completely vaporized, and the Reapers inside of it became nothing but debris.

The fireball eventually hit Tenokija and the possessed Inusannon, vaporizing the both of them instantly. Everything became black, and what used to be the proud Inusannon homeworld was now burnt to ash. A ghostly wasteland of old relics and burnt structures.

[-]

Aria stared at the ending of the video for a few seconds, she was clearly shocked. "How long did this war last? What was that mutation near the end of the video?"

"The war lasted for around 1,500 years, and that mutation was a possessed Inusannon. It was under the control of Harbinger, the oldest Reaper," Sirius replied to Aria in what seemed like a saddened tone.

"I'll need some time to think this over. If the three of you come across any information on the Inusannon or these Reapers, inform me of it immediately," Aria curtly told me, Lyna, and Sirius.

I nodded my head to Aria, and my omni-tool deactivated along with Sirius's hologram. "We'll be sure to do that when we find the location of the Inusannon."

Lyna stepped into the conversation after not talking for a fair bit of time. "If we actually find their location, that is. Even then, there's only a very small chance that we would even be able to reach it."

"If you find the Inusannon, I expect to be the first to know. This is one of the few things that have caught my interest," Aria sternly threatened. She walked back to her couch and sat on it with an arrogant expression on her face.

 **A/N: I really needed to end this chapter here, as it was getting a bit too big for my liking. I made sure to include the Inusannon video in much more detail than seen in Chapter 11. As time passes, I'll make sure to include more information on the Inusannon, as I have many plans for their technology and their species in general.**

 **I look forward to any feedback that I might have on this chapter, because it was fairly hard for me to write. It's around 7000 words, which is a fairly big feat for me, as I usually want to average 5000 words per chapter.**

 **I'll just say this now, both the Reapers and the species of the galaxy will be preparing for one another. When the Reapers finally arrive in the Galaxy, they will have more ships and more powerful technology than we saw in the games.**


	17. Chapter 17: Rigel

Chapter 17:

Date: August 2nd, 2077. 21 hours, 40 minutes after leaving Omega.

Lyna and I safely made it off of Omega, after talking to Aria about the Inusannon. I learned much more about the mysterious Inusannon than I did before. It gave me a new light on how hard they fought against the Reapers.

At the moment, Lyna and I had just been relaxing together, while flying to the Aite facility. We had a few nice conversations about my knowledge of this universe. Sirius estimated that we would arrive at Aite in a few days.

Aria had also given us a new shuttle for around 40,000 credits, as Samara and Vodnik had taken the old Xer-21 shuttle. It was awfully generous from her, being a crimelord and all.

Date: August 3rd, 2077.

I received a few messages from Daro'Xen, who was working with the Protheans that I had found days ago. '[Hey Kyle, I just wanted to send you an update on the progress with the Prothean race. They refused to answer any questions when we first got them aboard the Vertilex, but I managed to get the Protheans to cooperate alongside a few other Quarians.

I hope to see you again soon,

Daro'Xen nar Epsio, 16:25 P.M. MST.]'

Date: August 4th, 2077.

I sat around and talked with Sirius about any Inusannon tech powers that he could import from his server onto my omni-tool. He told me about one power called 'Taonani', which could temporarily disable enemies with three powerful electric shocks on vital organs.

He also told me that it was the only thing that could be imported at this time, as anything else would overload my omni-tool and fry my implants.

Date: August 5th, 2077.

"We should be exiting FTL in five seconds, prepare for deceleration," Sirius advised Lyna and I.

I was sitting to the side of Lyna, holding my Phaeston IV. I was lightly tapping the side of the panel next to me, as I was anxious to return to Aite. I was visibly nervous and I had a bad feeling about returning to Aite, despite being gone for only a few days.

My body was thrusted forwards as the _Bermuda_ dropped out of FTL. Lyna nearly lost her footing from the sudden deceleration. She quickly recovered and turned her head towards me. "Are you okay, Kyle?"

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just a bit nervous," I replied to Lyna.

"Don't be nervous. We're just going to go into that damn Inusannon structure, download the information there, and scavenge whatever we are able to find," Lyna calmly said, placing a reassuring hand on my back.

I slightly nodded my head, then gazed out of a nearby view port. I let out a long sigh after staring at Aite for a few minutes. "I wish it was that simple. Knowing our luck, we're probably going to end up spending hours inside of that structure…"

"We'll be fine. If anything goes wrong, I have you covered with my biotics and you have me covered with the Phaeston."

I turned around to face Lyna, then gestured to the back of the ship. "Let's just get this over with. Sitting around and talking about the structure is not going to give us the tech we need."

Lyna motioned for me to lead the way, so I began to walk forwards with Lyna trailing behind me. As we walked through the _Bermuda_ 's halls, I felt more uneasy than I had before.

 _Sirius, is there anything that I should know about the structure? I'm feeling uneasy, just as I did when I was first in it._

' _You shouldn't feel any fear about my facility. All it contains is the technology that Tenokija Ve'Skardi left behind and information on Inusannon relics.'_

 _That's not what I asked. Is there anything that I should know about it? What should I expect when I'm not being shot at by Geth?_

' _You'll find our technology. Weaponry like the ASAPC, our blueprints for the Pythet FTL drives, and the locations of other facilities such as the one we are headed to.'_

 _Is that all?_

' _That is all.'_

As I finished my little conversation with Sirius, Lyna and I were already in the shuttle bay. Lyna had just stepped into the shuttle, and I entered it shortly after she did. I sat down beside her in the co-pilot's seat, right next to the Asari.

Lyna turned her head towards me as Sirius started the shuttle up. "What do you think we will find down there?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I found a rifle of some sort when I was exploring the facility with Xen. Sirius called it an Anti-Synthetic Atomic Particle Concentrator, or an ASAPC," I told Lyna as Sirius began to pilot the shuttle out of the _Bermuda_ 's shuttle bay.

"ASAPC… I can't say that I've heard of that rifle before," Lyna calmly stated.

I leaned back in the co-pilot's seat, making myself comfortable. "Well, I don't think anyone has heard of it. It was manufactured by the Inusannon after all."

Sirius guided the shuttle into Aite's atmosphere, performing atmospheric reentry with ease, though Sirius's skill did not count for the monstrous noise of entering a planet's atmosphere. After a few moments of the deafening sound of breaching Aite's atmosphere, Lyna and I were greeted with the wonderful view of Aite.

The breath-taking cliffsides of the planet that I lived on for nearly a year put me in a state of awe. I had never really appreciated Aite's ecosystems, and to have the privilege of gazing upon the landscape of Aite was a truly amazing experience.

All of my worries about the structure disappeared, as I admired the view that I was given through the shuttle's windows. I savored every second of the rough terrain of Aite as Sirius piloted Lyna and I to the collection of ancient Inusannon relics.

It did not take us long to arrive at the Inusannon installation, as the shuttle was travelling over 1,500 kilometers per hour on average. I watched as Sirius decreased the shuttle's speed while passing over the harsh and rocky terrain of Aite.

Lyna tightly shut her eyes and exhaled, opening them after a few moments. "I just hope that we find something in there that is worth coming back to Aite."

"We'll find something in there, no doubt about that. I'll have Sirius gather the information on the consoles. I'll look for any technology or weaponry that I missed the first time that I was here," I told Lyna, removing any and all doubts from my mind.

Sirius slowed the shuttle to a halt, and set it onto the ground. The shuttle's doors opened, letting a rush of warm humid air hit Lyna and I. Since it had been quite a few days since I was exposed to the fresh oxygen of Aite, I took a short moment to deeply breathe.

Lyna pushed herself out of the seat, and stepped out of the shuttle. I grabbed my Phaeston IV by the stock of the weapon, and followed Lyna outside of the shuttle. She turned her head towards me and opened her mouth to speak. "Alright Kyle, you've been here before. Lead the way."

' _Latem-Tarik is a quarter of a kilometer away. It is northeast from our current position, and spotting it will not be a problem.'_

 _Why didn't you just land in front of it?_

' _You need the exercise, if we get into a fight in the future, I don't want you to run out of energy in the middle of it.'_

 _You sound so much like someone's mother right now._

' _Do you want me to use a different voice? I am able to do that.'_

 _No, that's fine. Please don't do that._

' _Good, now start walking.'_

"Very well, Lyna. Follow my lead and for the love of your goddess, please don't wander off."

Lyna raised one of her eyebrows at me. "If anything catches my eye, I'll stop you. Otherwise, I'm right behind you."

I nodded my head and began to move forwards into a forest like area. I tightly gripped onto my Phaeston and was very careful not to make a single noise. A space cow 'stood' about fifteen meters away from me, eating what looked to be another animal's corpse. I quickly looked away from the space cow, as I did not feel like throwing up what little I had eaten in the last few days.

I moved through the dense forestry with Lyna trailing right behind me. I could see the Inusannon structure in the distance, and I slightly sped up my pace. Of course, I was making much more noise than I would have liked, but I just wanted to get in and out of that structure as fast as I could.

As I neared the ancient Inusannon facility that was cloaked by the forestry surrounding it, I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Something about the Inusannon relic felt off to me, something that I did not feel the first time that I was here.

' _I'm transferring myself to Latem-Tarik's databases since we're in range.'_

 _Just find anything that would be of value, download it, and give it to me._

' _Almost everything in this structure is of value.'_

 _Then download everything._

' _I'm not able to store fifteen exabytes of data on the Inusannon and the Inusynthetics.'_

 _Okay, here's what you'll do. You're going to find the coordinates of Inusannon relics, weapons, ships. Whatever you can find to help us defeat the Reapers, because I know that the Crucible is a deathtrap._

' _I'll be sure to do that.'_

I stepped up to the door that Xen hacked during my first visit, and it opened before me. I was greeted with the same sight of a long hallway full of data consoles, filled with information on the Inusannon. The Geth that I had killed before were still lying in their original positions.

Lyna came up behind me, and she widened her eyes upon seeing the Geth platforms that I had eliminated. "Kyle, I did not expect to find Geth here, especially ones that have holes blasted clean through their chests," she trailed off, gazing off into one of the ash piles that littered the once clean Inusannon flooring. "Did you do this?"

"Yeah. They shot Xen, so I found an ASAPC and gave them some new scars," I joked. Lyna took the lead, and entered the Inusannon structure before I did. She slowly ran her hand down one of the data consoles, activating it with her touch.

I walked in behind Lyna, staring at the Geth corpses that were scattered across the flooring. Only now was I able to study the destruction that I caused. The walls were scorched from where I had experimented with the ASAPC and the Geth laid in a pile of purple ash which was once a part of their bodies. I came across a door that read something in a language that I couldn't even comprehend.

The door opened before me, revealing a room that held what looked like an Inusannon rifle. I entered the room with the door closing behind me and began to approach the rifle. It had a sleek design and a light grey color scheme. There was a label on the weapon's barrel which read out 'Inusynthetic Long Rifle - ISYLR.'

I hesitantly reached out and grabbed the ancient relic, where it instantly activated in my hands. A violet light casted itself from the bottom of the rifle, lighting up the area around me. I put the weapon's stock up to my shoulder and gazed through the weapon's scope.

After a few seconds of looking through the scope, I lowered the ISYLR and glanced at the door that had closed behind me. Eventually the door opened, allowing me to exit the room with the ISYLR in my hands. I was able to spot Lyna, who was slowly approaching the medical bay of the structure.

I was about to follow her, but I noticed something out of the corner of my eyes. I turned my head to see an odd hologram that looked like a projection of some kind, and had an appearance similar to the statues seen on Ilos. The hologram and I held a stare for what seemed like an eternity before it started to walk towards me, with projectors on the ceiling activating a path for it to follow. It held a deformed hand out and stared at me with a creepy grin.

"What are you?" I asked, fear displaying on my face. I was unable to contact Sirius as he was searching the structures databases.

"Inusynthetic," the hologram calmly answered. Their voice was quite raspy, and had a mechanical tone that echoed throughout the structure.

I raised an eyebrow and shook my head from side to side. "I mean, who are you? What are you doing here?"

The thing disappeared for a second, then reappeared next to me. "My previous designation was Rigel-685 prior to my deactivation. I have transferred my virtual form to this structure for the time being. You were here before, and you picked up Sirius it seems. How you managed to avoid me for so long is surprising. Kudos to you for that."

Rigel walked behind me, putting his deformed holographic hand onto my shoulder. I turned around to see the Inusynthetic seemingly teleport behind me again. "Alright… Rigel. What do you want from me?"

"I want you to know that you have three options that will decide the fate of the galaxy in the Harvest. One, you can return to Earth, see everyone you knew and loved six decades ago. Two, you may continue your course in this galaxy, fighting against your synthetic gods. Or three, you can submit to me, and find salvation with the Reapers."

I clenched my teeth, then slowly turned towards the Inusynthetic. Just then, my omni-tool activated, and the familiar shape of Sirius's hologram projected itself out of my omni-tool. "Rigel. I thought you were deactivated after your corruption on Ilos."

"You thought wrong my old friend, see while you were monitoring this facility, I was just beginning to wake up from my activation. Thanks to a self-augmented Inuhuman named Tiryn, I am back, and better than ever," Rigel darkly hissed at Sirius.

"Hold up, who the hell is Tiryn and what do you mean by Inuhuman?" I asked with a confused expression on my face.

Rigel turned his attention from Sirius to me. "An Inuhuman is an Inusannon or Inusynthetic-Human hybrid. From what I gathered, you are Inuhuman as well, Interloper."

Sirius's hologram turned a bright red for a split second, and before I knew it, Sirius was facing Rigel. "You are still corrupted by Omen, aren't you? I'll tell you this here and now, you will not succeed in the extermination of this cycle!"

"Oh, that is where you are wrong, brother. The Reapers will continue to cleanse this galaxy of the primitive organics until we find our solution, and none will stand in the way of this task," Rigel trailed off as his hologram started to disappear. "We will meet again, Terrah, and I hope that you will put some consideration into my generous offer."

I rolled my eyes and flipped off the disappearing hologram. "Go to hell."

I did not get a reply, as Rigel's hologram disappeared from sight. A low growl echoed through my mind shortly afterwards, it gave me a small headache, but that was it. Sirius deactivated my omni-tool, making his own hologram disappear. I looked to the ground and sighed from what I had just encountered.

' _Kyle, for future reference, do not speak to Rigel.'_

 _Why not? He may be indoctrin-_

' _Corrupted. Inusynthetics don't become indoctrinated. We become corrupted.'_

 _As I was saying before you rudely interrupted my thought process, Rigel may be… Corrupted, but he may slip up and give us some information on the Reapers._

' _You already know everything that you need to know on the Reapers. Talking to Rigel is not worth it. He will try to convert your mind to his sickening beliefs. I refuse to let that happen.'_

I cut the communications with Sirius, and looked over to my right. I was unable to see Lyna, who I had been following before Rigel distracted me. Exhaling, I shook my head from side to side and lightly jogged over to the medbay. Lyna was inside of the bay, holding a small vial of neon-green liquid.

I stopped jogging about five meters away from Lyna, and hurriedly walked over to her. "Lyna. We're not alone on Aite," I said to Lyna. She was holding a vial containing some type of liquid.

She set the vial down on a counter next to her, then turned herself to face me. "Can you elaborate?"

"I encountered something similar to Sirius. It seemed to be a cross between an Inusynthetic and a Reaper, but I'm not certain. It was a hologram, but it looked like it could kill us both just from swatting us." I panickedly informed Lyna.

"Okay, look. We need to focus on the task at hand, not a malfunctioning hologram. You can worry about that later, for now, we need to get what we can out of this place and go," she reassured me. Lyna put one of her blue hands onto my shoulder with a small smile on her face.

"Yeah. Let's just ignore the thing that could kill us all. Sure." I sarcastically replied, rolling my eyes, then looking down at the vial that Lyna had her hand on. "Anyways, what have you found?"

Lyna lightly tapped the vial with her fingernails. "I found this a minute ago. It has a label of some kind, but I can't understand the language, maybe you could make sense of it," she gently handed the vial of the strange green liquid to me.

I took it out of her hands and studied the label for a few seconds. I squinted at the small writing, and saw that the label read out. "Inusannon DNA… To be used as the seed for a race of hybrid Inusannon if our escape does not go as planned," I mumbled while studying the labeling.

"Is that the correct translation, or is that a really bad joke?" Lyna inquired with a hint of interest displayed on her face.

"You heard me correctly, Lyna. Apparently we're dealing with actual Inusannon DNA here, and we shuld give this to the Quarians for them to experiment with." I grinned at the small container of fluids, then set the vial down on the medical counter in front of me.

Lyna slowly took the container in her hands, and stared at the thing for a few seconds. "Do you trust the Quarians with something so sensitive? I think we should give it to the Council, maybe they would pass the vial onto the STG."

"We're not going to risk anything with the STG, we don't know their outcome to how they would react to this. You know, they'd probably take me too, being a Human and all. Have you forgotten that the Quarians, Geth, and the Prothean skeleton crew are our allies?" I rhetorically asked.

She shook her head from side to side and sighed. "No. I didn't forget about that. You do know that I don't trust the Quarians all that much, right? I've seen them steal from completely innocent civilians, and don't even get me started on the Geth…"

I turned around and slowly walked towards a wall, leaning against it as I stared into Lyna's eyes. "I know that most Quarians can be trusted, and as for the Geth, they're our allies now, so what they did in the past is of no concern to me. We're going to give the DNA to the Quarians, and that's final."

"I don't like this, Kyle. What if the Quarians turn against us, and use whatever comes out of their experiment as a weapon?"

"We're not going to operate in fear of our allies, and they owe me too many favors to turn against us," I calmly told Lyna, then walked to the other end of the room with the barrel of the ISYLR dragging across the floor. I let out a long sigh then turned back towards Lyna. "Right now, we have much bigger problems on our hands than your grudge against the Quarians."

Lyna stared at the vial for a few seconds before gazing back at me with a questioning look on her face. "What problems do we even have right now? We have a century before the Reapers arrive, so we deserve a little bit of time off every now and then."

I shook my head from side to side. "Rigel, an Inusynthetic just like Sirius spoke to me a couple of minutes ago. Sirius told me that it was corrupted by the Reapers during the Inusannon-Reaper war, and it is highly dangerous. That is what our problem is."

"You told me this already, but as I said before, we can worry about that later. Right now let's focus on scavenging what we can from this ancient cache of Inusannon relics," Lyna lightly patted me on my shoulder before looking down to the ISYLR. "You found a rifle? What happened to the Phaeston?"

I paused, letting my mouth hang open for a few seconds. "I may have set it down in the room that I found this Inusynthetic Long Rifle. I haven't tested it yet, but if it's anything like the ASAPC, it is extremely powerful."

Lyna let out a disappointed sigh, then turned away from me. "You really need armor or some Armali commando leathers. A hoodie and greyish blue pants aren't going to cut it anymore."

' _I've finished the download. There's not many other things of interest in this facility other than the DNA or the ISYLR. We are able to leave now if you want.'_

 _Tell me what you find once you've processed all of the information._

' _The processing may take several years to finish and sort through.'_

 _Several years? I thought you were a super-AI of some kind, not a computer that ran on Windows 98._

' _I do not run on this Windows 98. This cycle's technology could probably process the compressed data that I just downloaded in 50,000 years. My tech can process it in 10-20 years.'_

 _Holy crap. I didn't expect that much information to be in this facility._

"We can go on a shopping spree for armor at some point. I'm not going to armor up just yet. It's not like I can magically pull some leather and steel out of my ass and start wearing it," I told Lyna, then began to walk out of the medbay. "Grab that vial of Inusannon DNA. We'll come back in the later years to take what remains from it."

"And the Phaeston?"

"I'll grab it on the way out."

Date: August 12th, 2077.

I officially turned 25, but I had not told anyone about this. My birthday didn't matter when I was preparing for the Reapers. Lyna and I returned to the Geth and Quarians with the vial of DNA, and we were informed by Daro'Xen that Ferryn'Artrem had tricked the guards into thinking that she was sane, then escaped captivity. She exited on a shuttle to Omega.

A rogue Quarian Admiral on the loose wasn't good news, but I had more pressing matters than a man-hunt for an indoctrinated admiral. The Geth and Quarians could solve their own issue out there. What mattered was the DNA, and the Protheans that were willing to help experiment with it.

Date: October 24th, 2077.

Project Genesis was established by the Prothean and Quarian scientists working on the Inusannon DNA. Daro'Xen provided the female Quarian gene for the DNA. Sirius had decoded one percent of the Inusannon data that was taken from the structure.

Lyna and I returned to Aria with some of the data, and we were tasked by the Pirate Queen to give her any extra data that we found along the way.

Date: January 5th, 2078.

I finally got word from Vodnik and Samara that they had started their hunt for Morinth. They finally got a lead that Morinth had been located on Invictus. My presence in the galaxy was becoming widely known thanks to working under Aria T'Loak, I just hoped that I wouldn't be attacked by any Batarians, Vorcha, or even Krogan.

The Geth and Quarian peace became widely accepted throughout the Consensus and the Admiralty Board. The Prothean skeleton crew was also proving to be very useful by sharing their technology with the younger races. Daro'Xen transferred the blueprints for the EMDrive over to the Quarian Admiralty Board after becoming the XO of the Moreh.

Ferryn Artrem had yet to be caught, even after a few months when she went on the run, though the Geth Consensus was making many attempts to find the indoctrinated Quarian admiral. Daro'Xen vas Moreh contacted me about her new captain, Seehra'Valihal vas Moreh, saying that the captain could very well become an admiral.

Project Genesis was transferred to the Quarian Ship, _Cevoli_ , but no signs of life were being formed just yet. Delaki, one of the Prothean scientists working on the Inusannon DNA, put a medical nanobot onto the Quarian/Inusannon cell in an attempt get readings from it.

Date: March 5th, 2079.

I received a message from Myriad, the Geth that I had introduced to the Quarians a couple of years ago. Myriad's message, or rather Sirius's translation, told me that a government had formed between the Geth and Quarians. This government was called the United Rannoch Government or the URG.

Shortly after I was given the message that Myriad sent out, I was sent a chat request by Daro'Xen. I accepted the chat invite, and was almost immediately greeted with a model of the hybrid DNA. My neural implants allowed me to communicate with Xen without even opening my mouth.

' _-Are you seeing this, Kyle?-'_

 _-I see the DNA if that's what you are asking.-_

' _-No, we actually have life! I'm not entirely sure how this is possible, but the Inusannon DNA is somehow combining with my donated DNA.-'_

 _-Hold on, is this an elaborate joke? Or do we actually have life?-_

' _-I'm not joking. Though this is a major breakthrough, it will still be a couple of years before the cell will actually grow. The Protheans are calling it Teval'Rithari, a combination of both their culture and mine.-'_

 _-Okay, keep me posted. I need to write up a report on what I have found so far to Aria.-_

' _-Have fun.-'_

 _-I'll be sure to.-_

Date: September 14th, 2080.

I sat in a shuttle with Lyna, heading back to Omega to speak to Aria about a small bit of Inusannon data that Sirius decompiled. I was browsing through my email, checking off any unread messages that had been sitting in there for over a month. I eventually found an old email from Daro'Xen.

Lyna began to train me with the ISYLR, though she let me start with a slightly modified Striker VII rifle. I was fairly certain that I would wind up shooting myself at one point, but luckily, that never happened.

 _-Teval'Rithari's Update-_

' _[Hello Kyle,_

 _You said that you wanted an update on the cell a couple of months ago, so here it is._

 _The Protheans have finally developed a fetus from the cell, and I'm not going to lie, the thing looks creepier than I would have imagined. From what I've seen so far, the thing has five fingers, similar to a Human, Asari, or a Batarian. The fetus' face is similar to mine, but I can't tell much in this stage. Delaki told me that it was female, though we can't tell for certain. I'll send you another update when we've made another breakthrough. I just thought you would have liked to know this._

 _Signed,_

 _Daro'Xen vas Moreh nar Epsio.]'_

Date: April 18th, 2081.

I tapped my foot on the flooring below me, leaning back against one of the walls on the _Bermuda_. Lyna was tapping something into her omni-tool while I was talking to Sirius.

 _And? We may have five percent of the information decrypted, but that doesn't mean that we should hop onto the Citadel and start shouting, 'Reapers!' That's just stupid._

' _That's not what I meant. I was merely suggesting that we alert the councilors.'_

 _How do you even suggest that we alert the councilors? We have very little political power in the galaxy, even if we did manage to unite the Geth and Quarians._

' _We have the data that we need to let them prepare, why not just give it to them?'_

 _If you looked through my memories and saw what happened throughout Mass Effect 1 and 2, you'd see how they blow it off._

' _Those were digital characters. This is real life now, they'll probably not act that way… Incoming message from Daro'Xen vas Moreh.'_

I let out a long sigh, then opened up my omni-tool. I skimmed over the message that Daro sent me.

 _-Re: Teval'Rithari's Update-_

' _[Greetings Kyle,_

 _I have some good news from the progress of the URG and the Protheans on Teval'Rithari. The Inuquarian, as Delaki is calling it, woke up last night while a Prothean researcher was preparing nanobot injections. Currently, Delaki is proposing that she takes care of this Inuquarian and there have been no objections._

 _One of the other Protheans that was working on Teval'Rithari made a pretty ominous prediction about the Inuquarian. I can't ever remember his name, Lervick or something along those lines. He spoke of her causing mass destruction in the galaxy, and that she would rain hell on all that opposed her. I'm pretty sure this guy was just spewing out bullshit._

 _My father has also sent a small flotilla of Geth and Quarian vessels to uncolonized systems. He told me that he was searching for Inusannon technology, the same kind that you and Vodnik were implanted with. Apparently this is for Teval'Rithari._

 _Moving on to another topic, the ASAPC that you gave to the admiralty board has been replicated by the Geth. I'm not sure how they were even able to do that, but they've currently produced five of them._

 _I'll continue to be in contact, sending you updates and whatnot._

 _Daro'Xen vas Moreh nar Epsio.]'_

My eyes only widened at Xen's message. , but I did make sure to send a message back.

 _-Re: Re: Teval'Rithari's Update-_

 _[Hey Xen,_

 _I'm not going to lie, I was rather surprised when I read over your message. I don't have enough time on my hands to give a long reply or anything like that. Keep an eye on this Lervick Prothean, I don't want any risks around Teval'Rithari._

 _Thanks for the update,_

 _Kyle Jonathan Terrah.]_

Date: July 19th, 2082.

The first testing of the URG EMDrive was successful, and it took approximately a day to travel one light year with the URG EMDrive. It wasn't the fastest way to traverse the galaxy, as quoted by Delaki, but it was certainly one of the more efficient ways to do so.

From what I had heard from Kapo'Xen, his fleet found a planet with the name of Hynak, which was apparently littered with ruins of a long-dead civilization. Though a team of Geth was sent down to the planet's surface, Kapo'Xen lost contact with them shortly after the Geth entered the atmosphere.

Hynak was deemed to be a highly dangerous planet, as any ship that entered the atmosphere lost control of any electronic systems. A few Quarian marines speculated that there may be an EMP system that fries any technology that enters the planet's atmosphere.

My aim was average, at least with a rifle. With a pistol, I was pretty much incompetent, and I couldn't use a shotgun to save my life. Obviously, I still wasn't the best that I could be, but being trained by an Asari Huntress was a privilege and an honor. It could be a bit rougher than I liked at times, though the reward was worth it, I was worn out almost every day and had little time to discuss politics with the URG.

I didn't get many messages from the URG; I could only assume that they were too focused on Teval'Rithari. From what I could tell, the activity of their exploration fleets had increased, as there was now a high demand for EMDrives.

 **A/N: And that small year-skip brings an end to this chapter. Personally, it was a very entertaining one for me to write, due to the meeting with Rigel. I also missed the anniversary for Mass Effect: Bermuda's publish date by a month or so. I meant to get this chapter out by July 26th, but oh well.**


	18. Chapter 18: Saiph

Chapter 18:

Date: August 15th, 2083. 2:14 P.M. Six years after the discovery of Rigel.

I walked out of the Bermuda's airlock with Lyna right beside me. We had docked with one of Nos Astra's docking ports around an hour ago, and we just got permission to leave our ship. Lyna and I were on Illium to mainly take a break from all of the jobs that we had been doing for Aria.

I was armed with my ISYLR, which gave me a very threatening appearance despite having minimal training with it. I could see an Asari approaching me with a happy expression on her face. The Asari seemed to be wearing a brown and black bodysuit, but she had what seemed to be a blocky sort of heavy pistol with a maroon color and a skull on the side of the weapon. It looked like a distant relative to a .44 revolver. The heavy pistol was latched onto a holster that was attached to Lyna's upper thigh, right below her waist.

As she approached, I offered a small, but friendly wave to her. The Asari seemed to give it no mind as she stopped right in front of Lyna. The unknown Asari hugged Lyna, kissing her on the cheek. "Welcome back to Illium, Lyna."

Lyna pulled herself away from the other Asari, then put her hands onto the other's shoulder. "Jenalia, it has been far too long. How has Mira been doing?"

"She's been doing well actually, despite your disappearance in 2076," the other Asari explained. She then turned her head towards me, and smiled. "I assume you're one of those 'Humans' that Omega has been freaking out about. I heard one of your kind was operating with a Justicar, pretty neat stuff."

I nodded my head, finally being recognized by the Asari. "That would be Vodnik, no idea what the guy's real name is. I'm Kyle Terrah, a Human as you've obviously figured out."

"Oh, I'm Jenalia Rilac, Lyna's sister," Jenalia happily exclaimed she lightly jogged over to where I stood and embraced me in a tight hug. She pressed her lips up against my cheek for a second, then let me go. "It's nice to meet you!"

"Erm, yeah. It's nice to meet you too," I awkwardly said, scratching the back of my neck.

I observed Jenalia's appearance, she was very similar to Lyna. She had dark blue skin, and purple facial markings similar to what I saw on Aria T'Loak's face. Jenalia seemed to be wearing some comfortable clothes, made out of fabric that I hadn't even seen before. It seemed to be a cross between leather and polyester, with indigo stripes trailing down the sleeves of the clothing. The clothing fit onto Jenalia's body quite snuggly, just like a Commando's jumpsuit would, but it was much more casual.

Lyna came up behind Jenalia and put a hand onto her sister's arm. "Do you have a more private place to speak with us? I'd rather not have to fight off slavers trying to get Kyle as a trophy."

Jenalia nodded her head, then walked over to one of the edges of the docking bay. She leaned over the edge, pointing to a building just behind the _Bermuda_. "Mira's apartment is on one of the higher floors of that structure. I'm sure that she wouldn't mind if you stayed there for a few days while you planned your next course of action."

I was more than confused, but I kept to myself as I looked past the _Bermuda_. I was fairly silent. The nightmares that I would experience put pure fear into my mind, and the visions from them were burned into my memory. Every now and then, I would experience a vision that haunted my very existence, and the longer that I went without them, the worse the vision was.

Sirius told me that the dreams were nothing to worry too much about, but the visions seemed so real to me. Unlike the dreams that I used to experience on Earth, I could remember every second of them, every detail. It wasn't a nice experience, but I assured myself that I could survive, even with the horrid hallucinations plaguing my slumber.

I snapped out of my thoughts, turning my head over to Lyna and Jenalia who were still talking. Sighing, I walked over to the two Asari. "As much as I'd like to continue gazing upon the view of Illium, I also don't want to be out in the open for too long," I said, then gestured to what seemed to be a skycar lot. "Let's just get to that apartment that you speak of, I'd rather not experience a diplomatic incident on this planet. With me being a new species and all, I wouldn't be surprised if someone was out to get me."

Jenalia happily nodded, then started to walk over to the nearby lot. I followed her and Lyna, both of them walking side by side. I finally got a good view of the skycar lot, bustling with activity and full of many species, mainly Asari.

A group of Asari, Turians and Batarians spotted me. I was able to pick up the noise of a weapon being activated behind me, so I glanced over my shoulder with a threatening scowl. One of the Turians was aiming a Krysae rifle at my back, which seemed to have disruptor ammo on it.

Lyna and Jenalia were talking amongst each other, and they were out of range to hear what was going on. Both of them seemed to be more focused on their little reunion than me. I stopped walking after I turned off the safety on my ISYLR. I tilted my head sideways, locking eyes with the Turian that was aiming for me. I raised my hands up, in an order of surrendering. "I'm sure there's a way to work this out peacefully. What do you people wish for?"

"See, there's a price on your head. A million credits for you to be taken to the Shadow Broker alive. Come peacefully and we'll even consider letting your Asari friends live." The Turian cockily replied, not even acknowledging my words. "Now how about you just put that odd weapon down, and come with us?"

"A price on my head? Well, I'm not sure what to say. I have my own orders by Aria T'Loak, and I plan to follow them." I told the group. One of the Batarians raised his weapon up at me, a grin on his face. I stared at him with mock fear covering my face. "Okay, so you're threatening to shoot me now. That's real smart, considering that the Shadow Broker wants me alive. I guess that you could simply shoot me, doom yourself, and not get your money."

I heard my omni-tool activate, letting Sirius's eight foot tall hologram appear in front of me. I had seen it before back on Aite, but in a tense situation such as this, the hologram looked much more ominous. It dwarfed the mercenary group, staring down at them with an almost disappointed look on his face. He held his hand out towards the Turian's forearm, a small grin forming on his face. "Lavius Velio, Turian. Employed by the Shadow Broker as of 2078. Currently on a 'vacation' of some sorts." Sirius hummed, listing out some basic information on the Turian. "Tell me, Velio, how would your son feel if his father returned home as a box of ashes?"

Lavius paused, then gestured for the Batarian to lower his weapon, though he kept his raised. "How did you… Spirits, what are you?"

"Perhaps I will tell you in time, though I do recommend that you put down your weapon. A shot from an ISYLR is not avoidable, nor is it survivable with the technology from this cycle." Sirius smirked, turning his head down at me. I could feel him connecting with my neural implants.

' _Aim your weapon at the central mass of the Batarian. Now.'_

 _What? I'm not planning on being gunned down by them!_

' _Aim the ISYLR at the Batarian.'_

 _That's incredibly foolish! We'll die before I even move a muscle._

' _You won't die. Aim the weapon at the Batarian, Terrah! I will not repeat myself.'_

A sigh escaped from my lips, and time seemed to slow down for me. I raised the ISYLR up, pressing the stock against my shoulder, and aiming it directly at the Batarian. His cocky expression was soon replaced by anger, and the whole group aimed their weapons at me. The Asari activated her biotics, but it was too late for the group to do anything.

Sirius had cut his connection with my neural implants, and instead synced it to the technology inside of the rifle that I held in my hands. A whining noise chirped up inside of the weapon, and the barrel turned from silver to dark purple in a matter of seconds. A beam of light and energy shot out of the ISYLR at unimaginable speeds, heading straight at its designated target. While it traveled the short distance between myself and the Batarian, I could hear crackling and hissing, until the round eventually met its target.

I watched as the projectile from the ISYLR tore through the Batarian's kinetic barriers, burning a hole clean through his armor. Purple flames formed around the Batarian's flesh, charring it until it was fully blackened. While the projectile traveled through the Batarian, his insides were engulfed with fire, burning him from the inside out. He screamed, alerting Lyna, Jenalia, and everyone else in the skycar lot of what had just happened. The superheated beam exited out of the Batarian's body and impacted the wall behind him, causing a large, scorched spot to appear on the wall.

His body literally began to vaporize, leaving ashes where he stood only moments before. The skin and muscles of the Batarian evaporated, and his skeleton seized up for a second. It fell to the ground and the materials from the beam started to eat away at the calcium. Laying before me was the ashes of the Batarian, and the whole skycar lot was silent save for the whine coming from the core of my ISYLR.

I stood in silence, gazing the ashes with an obvious amount of shock. I couldn't believe what I had just done, or what Sirius had just caused. I stepped back, shutting my eyelids, and shaking my head from side to side. I dropped to one of my knees, setting the stock of the ISYLR on the ground, and panting from the monstrous act that Sirius and I had caused.

 _Sirius. Why?_

' _Why? The Batarian was an immediate threat. I had to deal with him.'_

 _We didn't have to shoot him!_

' _He threatened your life, so I disposed of his.'_

 _I could have talked him down, I could have talked the whole group down. Yet you resorted to violence._

' _I did what I had to. They clearly weren't going to back off, and someone had to take action.'_

 _That's not always the right choice. We're supposed to protect the lives of the galaxy, not destroy them!_

' _And you need to learn how to fight. I get that you were a civilian, but you're going to have to learn the ways of this galaxy, or you won't survive to fight in the Reaper war.'_

 _I don't want to fight, Sirius! I want peace!_

' _Peace will never be achieved. There will always be war, people will always kill for some reason or another. The Reapers are our main focus right now, and if anyone gets in our way, I'll be glad to take them out.'_

 _That doesn't change the fact that we just shot a man._

' _Would it make you feel better if I told you that he enslaved multiple people and robbed multiple stores? He was scum, Terrah. His life didn't matter.'_

 _All life matters, no matter how many crimes they commit._

' _All life can change too, but his wasn't going anywhere important.'_

The Turian and the Asari sprinted away from Sirius and I. They ran over to an elevator, immediately entering it and disappearing from sight. Footsteps echoed behind me, and Sirius's hologram retreated back into my omni-tool. I stared at the ashes for a few seconds before a gasp came from behind me.

Jenalia stood a meter away from me, staring at the ash that used to be a Batarian. Lyna arrived seconds later, raising one of her 'eyebrows' at the ash pile. "Kyle, what even happened here? We were separated for only a few moments. You were right behind us a couple of minutes ago, now you're standing over some ash pile and the whole lot is silent!"

"I was held up by some mercs, apparently there's a bounty on my head placed by the Shadow Broker himself," I whispered my response.

Jenalia stepped back, her hands raised in the air as if she was surrendering. "What would the Broker want with you?"

I shrugged my shoulders, then finally managed to look away from the pile of ash. I silently walked past Lyna and Jenalia, temporarily pushing the scarring memory into the depths of my mind. I wasn't a murderer. I never wanted to kill someone, but that's just how the galaxy worked. "I don't know. Let's just get out of the public's eye before anyone else attempts to claim this bounty on me."

Lyna made her way over to a nearby skycar, unlocking it with her omni-tool. "I'd rather not cause any other public disturbances. Get in the car."

I sighed, then stepped over to the skycar, leaning down into the backseat. I closed my eyes for a few seconds before hearing the skycar start up. Jenalia and Lyna were sitting side by side, both of them in the front seats of the skycar. My ISYLR was propped against the seat next to me, the barrel still smoking from where it nearly overheated from the vaporization of that Batarian.

I looked out one of the windows of the skycar, and I could see the skycar slowly coming to a halt right outside of a docking port with another building. Jenalia finally landed the skycar inside of the docking port, where I was able to get a good look around the building.

The interior was quite peaceful, not much was happening, and I was able to see a few Asari walking about. Of course, there were a few Salarians and Turians inside of the building too. Two heavily armed Asari seemed to be approaching the skycar, with what seemed to be Disciples and Acolytes. The Disciples that they carried were slightly curved, like the structures that one would see on Thessia or any Asari occupied garden world. As for the Acolytes, they seemed to be a bit more advanced versions of the Disciples.

The skycar's doors opened, and Jenalia immediately stood up to greet the approaching Asari. Both of the Asari raised their weapons and seemed to be wearing yellow armor. I quickly identified both of the Asari as Eclipse, so I grabbed my ISYLR by its stock and stood myself up. "Is there a problem here?"

They looked at me, both of them chuckled lightly. The leading one shook her head, slowly walking towards me. Jenalia and Lyna both exited the skycar, and Jenalia motioned for me to get back. "There's certainly a problem. You have something that the Eclipse wants, and either you're going to give it to us, or we're going to take it from you."

"And what might that be?" Lyna asked, crossing her hands under her breasts, and cocking her head to the side.

"The weapon that the oversized pyjak is holding. It is nothing that we have seen before, and I believe that all of us would benefit greatly from such a transaction."

"How much are you offering for it?" Jenalia questioned, leaning against the tip of the skycar, with a cocky grin spread across her face.

The two Eclipse Sisters looked at one another for a few seconds. One of them stepped forwards, and gestured towards us. "We're letting you live."

Lyna shook her head, then summoned her biotics. "I'm afraid that you're offering too little, as it's not up for sale."

The silent Asari pulled out her Acolyte, brought it up to aim at me, then pressed a few buttons on the weapon. I saw a white holographic feature spread across the weapon, indicating that the weapon had switched its ammo type.

I heard the shot come out of the Acolyte, and then felt a freezing pain shoot across my leg. It felt like it had been dunked in liquid nitrogen, and I fell to the ground, my body seizing up.

' _Cryo ammo detected. Temporarily shutting down implants to prevent overload.'_

The last sight that I saw was Jenalia activating her biotics, and putting both of the Asari in a mode of stasis. She took out a Carnifex, and shot both of them in the head. Lyna vaulted over the car, and knelt over me. I could hear words coming from her mouth, but I was unable to make them out. Soon, I went into an unconscious state, only after hearing a siren of an approaching medical vessel.

Date: August 16th, 2083, 10:41 A.M.

[-]

 _An Asari stood before me, she seemed to be in dark grey armor. I was on my knees before her, and my hands were tied behind my back. The barrel of a gun was pressed to the back of my head and the Asari was staring down at me with a sadistic smile on her face._

 _I glanced to the side, where I saw Lyna in the same situation that I was in. A sharp jolt of electricity was forced into my neck when I looked away from the other Asari. The Asari stepped forwards, kneeling down before me. It was then that I was able to look into her empty eyes._

 _Her eyes were pure black, and much of her face was covered in Reaper technology. She put her hand onto my chin, forcing me to stare into her blank eyes. "Interloper. You have no idea how long I have been waiting to see you on your knees before me..." The Asari trailed off. Her voice was raspy, mechanical, and had a very dark tone to it._

" _Saiph, what did Omen do to you?" Lyna desperately asked._

" _Oh Lyna… You've been around this Interloper for too long. He speaks falsehoods about the true goddesses. They are our redemption through annihilation," the Asari known as Saiph said with a dark tone in her voice._

" _That didn't answer my question, what have the Reapers done to you?!" Lyna screamed at Saiph, tears rolling down her cheeks from emotional distress._

 _I kept quiet, not able to intervene. The Indoctrinated Asari let go of my chin, then pushed herself away from me. She shook for a few moments before slowly walking over to Lyna. "The Reapers have gifted me new powers as an exchange for my help in their cause. They can do the same for you and the Interloper if you join us."_

' _Keep Saiph distracted. I'm going to attempt to free Lyna from her omni-cuffs.'_

" _Hey, indoctrinated bitch, how about you focus on me and not your fellow Asari?" I asked with a great amount of hostility in my tone._

 _Saiph turned towards me, her eyes turning from the previous pitch black to a neon blue hue. Her teal skin flashed a dark purple for a few seconds before slowly walking over to me. "I was wondering when you were going to speak up, Interloper."_

 _I struggled against my restraints, and began to break through them with the power of my omni-tool. "I was wondering when you would put me on a spike, impale me, and then turn me into some type of advanced husk. Seriously, if you're going to turn me into a thrall to the Reapers, at least make it quick."_

 _Saiph shook her head, then took out a small taser-like device. She pressed the thing to my temple and activated it. I was engulfed in a world of pain and ended up falling to my side. My body was twitching violently, and I could see the Indoctrinated Asari standing over me with a large grin on her face._

" _Oh no, Interloper… Omen wishes for your mind to be intact for centuries, and I feel the same way…" Saiph's grin turned into a frown as she picked me up by the collar of my armor. "We can make your submission painless if you surrender your form to us now."_

 _I felt a needle pierce my neck, and I began to lose consciousness. A form similar to Rigel stood over me as I took my last few breaths. "The Synthetic Gods will be pleased. Dispose of the Interloper's Associate, she has no use to us."_

[-]

I awoke at least twenty hours after being frozen. I was shivering, as a cold sweat was dripping down my neck. A light pressure was placed upon my stomach, so I put my hand down onto it.

Once my hand laid upon a shoulder, I looked down to see what was lying on my abdomen. Sure enough, I saw Lyna's resting head on me.

I quickly looked around the odd room that I was in, and I saw no one else in it besides myself and Lyna. The room looked fairly high-tech, but it was fairly humid, something that I didn't like at all. I was able to hear machinery beeping, and I figured that I was in a hospital of some kind.

I slightly moved my leg and clenched my teeth when it caused a spasm that shook through my body. My leg looked as if it had just been exposed to the extreme cold of Noveria, as the skin was purple and red.

I stared at her scalp crests for quite some time, wondering what they would feel like. So I took the opportunity before me, and lightly ran my thumb over Lyna's crests.

The Asari shifted a bit, so I positioned my hand to be around Lyna's crests, softly grasping them in my hands. I began to gently squeeze them. Lyna put both of her palms onto my chest, then started to knead at it. In my response to this, I squeezed a bit harder than usual, as I found her actions quite amusing.

Lyna's eyes fluttered open, and she stared at me for a few seconds with a smile on her face. She wrapped her hands around my neck, then pressed her forehead up against mine. "I'm glad that you're finally awake. I was beginning to get worried that you weren't actually going to wake up."

"I may have been temporarily frozen, but that's not enough to kill me," I quietly chuckled. I attempted to move my leg to the side, but I was met with only pain from the wound that I received from the Eclipse Sisters.

"Don't get cocky, I've seen plenty of people die from Cryo Ammo, you just got lucky," Lyna told me. She brushed a small bit of my overgrown hair to the side and stared into my eyes with a weak smile on her face.

I pushed myself up in the cot that I was lying in. "Onto another subject, where am I?"

"Currently, we're in one of the best hospitals in Nos Astra. I believe that Sirius has the _Bermuda_ prepared in case you wish to leave." Lyna told me, then looked over to one of the sides of the room. "I almost lost you. I don't want that to happen again."

I was shocked at Lyna's words, my face didn't show it, but deep down I was surprised to hear that come out of Lyna's mouth. I eventually shook the surprise off, and stared at Lyna for quite a few seconds. "What do you mean?"

Lyna gazed into my eyes, a frown forming as she studied my appearance. "We've stood by each other's sides for years now, and I've seen so much more in the past seven years than I have in my entire life. Losing you would kill me inside, and I just can't see you perish so just like that," Lyna whispered. I was barely able to hear what she said.

She cupped her blue hands around my left hand, which still had a scar on it from 2014. Lyna looked it over, studying the scar that ran down the top of my hand, eventually stopping at the beginning of my wrist. Lyna lightly put her finger onto the scar, then lightly followed its path onto my forearm. She kept quiet, and so did I.

After Lyna kept her hand at the start of my wrist for quite some time, she let go of me. Her face had an affectionate smile form on it, and she gently wrapped her hands around my neck. She brought her face closer to mine, and before I knew it, her lips were pressing against my own lips.

Lyna pulled away after a few seconds, a very small grin on her face. I was shocked from Lyna's affection, but I still slowly wrapped my arms around her upper body. "Lyna, I won't live forever. I can't promise you that I'll always be by your side, as I know that you wouldn't be able to do the same. I can only promise that I will try my hardest not to be killed by our enemies."

"That's… Acceptable, I guess. I just don't want to see you die, I don't want to experience the same things that I experienced with Veranisa when she went missing…" Lyna desolately trailed off, her forehead now resting against my chest.

I shut my eyes after a few seconds, taking a deep breath. "Who was Veranisa? If you don't mind me asking?"

"She was my aunt, I guess you could say. She always seemed so nice back in the 1780s, but was taken from Nevos by Batarian and Krogan slavers in 1825. I sent so many messages… I wanted to see her again… But she never came back… Never responded… The only hope that I have left is that her death was painless…"

I was visibly shocked by Lyna's words, a very small frown appearing on my lips. My response didn't come for a while, as I was processing all of the information that Lyna gave me. "I can't relate to that, even though my life was relatively rough before I arrived on Thessia… I'm sorry that the slavers took your loved ones. I can only imagine how that would feel…"

Lyna put a hand onto my healing leg, her omni-tool activating and dispensing a medi-gel injection into my leg. I seized up from the pain, which soon subsided and faded into a very chilled feeling inside of it. "It's nice to hear that someone cares. Jenalia didn't care much for Veranisa, and my mother hated her… Even though she was Mira's sister."

"You know, she could still be alive. Maybe not in a good condition, but alive," I murmured.

Lyna's head almost immediately shot up, tears trailing down her cheeks from merely talking about Veranisa. "That's… No… She's dead, there's no way that she's alive anymore… Even if she was still alive… I don't even want to think of what that would be like for her…"

"Back in the early 1800s on Earth, slavery was a pretty big thing. People died all of the time to abuse from their masters, but there were quite a few that lived a long life. There is a chance that Veranisa is alive."

Lyna shook her head, her eyes sorrowfully shut. "Don't give me false hopes, Kyle… She's not alive anymore, and in the extremely small chance that she is… She isn't in a good condition. I'd rather die than live like that."

I took Lyna's hands in my own, staring into her light blue eyes sympathetically. "Never give up hope, Lyna. Unless you see the death happen before your very eyes, there's always going to be that slim chance that they are alive."

"Wise words from someone so young," Lyna quietly commented. "Kyle, you never told me this, but how old are you?"

I raised a single eyebrow, pausing for quite a few seconds. "Uh. Didn't I tell you back in 2076? I was physically 24 when I arrived on Thessia. So right now, that would make me 31," I slowly told Lyna.

Lyna slowly nodded her head, looking around the room once more. My leg was returning to its normal white color, instead of looking like someone ran it over 48 times. "We should probably get going. As much as I like Illium, it's not safe here."

A few moments passed before I slowly pushed myself out of the cot, Lyna taking my arm to support me. I settled myself against a wall, leaning onto it as I gazed out of a large window that was placed in front of me.

I was greeted with a view of the Illium cityscape. Skycars and other types of flying vehicles were flying around the city, all in designated roads for one another. Buildings jutted out of the ground, reaching for kilometers upon kilometers into the sky. It reminded me of Thessia, the same world that I had arrived upon six years ago.

I shook myself out of my daydreaming session, slowly and shakily pushing myself off of the cot. The ISYLR that I had picked up back on Aite was leaned against the cot, allowing me to grab onto its barrel and use it for support. My legs seemed to crumble beneath me as soon as I stood up, but Lyna kept a strong hold on my body. No words came out of Lyna's mouth when I almost fell to the floor, instead her grip only tightened.

Suddenly, a burst of energy came over my body. I no longer felt as if I was weak, and I almost immediately regained my balance on the floor, shaking myself out of Lyna's grip. I picked my ISYLR up, then looked back over to Lyna, a blank expression now on my face. "What's with the sudden change of attitude? Illium should be safer than most planets or stations."

"What's with the sudden change of speed?" Lyna inquired, one of her false-eyebrows raising up. "You shouldn't be up this early, especially after getting cryogenically frozen."

I paused for a moment, staring at Lyna for quite a few seconds. "Again. Why shouldn't we be safe here? Yes, I got shot, but that's much better than becoming a Batarian's play-thing on Omega!"

"Well, you could be on Omega right now, fighting for your life against slavers, or alongside Vodnik and Samara, with their hunt for that ardat-yakshi running rampant across the galaxy," Lyna hissed. She rolled her eyes shortly after she finished speaking.

I leaned up against a medical cabinet, staring directly at Lyna. An annoyed look took over my face. "You didn't exactly answer my question, Lyna. Ilium is safer than the Citadel at this point. If I even step foot on that place, the STG will be all over me. Ilium is the safest place to be at the moment, other than the URG occupied space."

"Well just think about it, Kyle! You're a Human in the Terminus systems. Sure, this is an Asari colony, but there are dangers here. Ilium is just Omega, but with more suits."

I sighed, shaking my head. I put my hand up to my face, then put my fingers around my nose. Taking a deep breath in, I blinked a few times, then set my ISYLR against the side of the medical counter, letting the weapon rest there for a few minutes.

I soon turned my gaze back over to Lyna, who looked quite exasperated. "Where do you suggest we go? Back to Aite, or maybe even the Migrant Fleet?" I finally questioned after several seconds had passed.

Lyna turned around, facing one of the glass windows that overlooked the skyline of Illium. Skycars and small civilian vessels traveled in their own lanes, past towering skyscrapers and dome-shaped buildings. She put her palm onto the glass, then gazed out to the bustling city.

A ping echoed from Lyna's omni-tool, and a sigh escaped from her mouth as soon as she looked at it. She closed the holographic tool shortly afterwards. "We might just have to keep being on the move. We'll continue working under Aria for the mean time. Let's head back to the _Bermuda_ for now."

 **A/N: The new Andromeda trailer was pretty neat.**


	19. Chapter 19: Corruption and Anomalies

Chapter 19:

Date: November 9th, 2084.

One year after the meeting with Jenalia.

The Geth had finally joined in to help with the development of the EMDrive. It wasn't nearly as close to traveling as fast as an Element Zero based FTL drive, but it was able to go faster than the speed of light. There had been a few tests on a Geth dreadnought with the EMDrive, and from Daro'Xen's observations, the EMDrive was able to travel at least four light years per week.

Date: February 23rd, 2086.

After the development of the EMDrive Mark II, or EMDM2, ships under a kilometer in length were able to travel at least ten light years per week. Most United Rannoch Government corvettes and destroyers were able to travel at least 20 light years per week. Exploration vessels from the Geth and Quarians were sent out to the Attican Beta nebula to relocate Feros.

Later, after months of traveling to the Attican Beta nebula, the URG exploration fleet reached the Theseus system, where they found Feros shortly afterwards. A squadron of Quarian scientists and Delaki took a shuttle down to the ruins of the former Prothean world. Upon reaching the surface, they found a Prothean DNA locked bunker, full of weapons and armor, all of which were sent back to Rannoch and the Migrant Fleet for testing.

Date: July 2nd, 2087.

Councilor Tevos receives information on the Reaper threat from Aria T'Loak. She is told by Aria to keep quiet about it until the time is right, as any leaks could cause mass panic throughout the galaxy. Asari fleet production is increased by 33% from the threat of the Reapers returning less than a century from the current date.

The URG puts all of their spare resources for a project started by Ithera'Lyik. The project was called Metona-Inu, which meant, 'to find the Inusannon' in Khelish. Metona-Inu was funded with telescopes that were fitted with thermal scanners, able to detect heat signatures hundreds, or even thousands of light years away. With the EMDrive's production at an all-time high, it is estimated that the URG will encounter the Inusannon within a decade.

Date: December 21st, 2088.

A neutron star is discovered by a Geth exploration fleet that was searching for the Inusannon. One of the Geth frigates got too close to the neutron star from a false calculation, and was immediately destroyed. The rest of the exploration fleet evacuated the system before they were wiped out as well.

Date: June 29th, 2089.

Tests for an element zero infused EMDrive were conducted over an unnamed Quarian-Geth colony. When the Geth frigate sporting the prototype EMDrive attempted to jump into FTL, an EMP blasted the colony, shutting off all electronics for a couple of minutes. After many minutes had passed, and the URG was able to restore their electronic capabilities, they found that the ship was gone.

Any communication that the Quarians attempted to make with the lost frigate was futile, as the vessel had mysteriously vanished.

Date: March 13th, 2090.

Statistics from the URG showed that there were now 75,000 Quarian-built vessels, and about 80,000 Geth-made ships, all ranged from Corvettes to Dreadnoughts. As compared to the fleets in 2076, where only 50,000 Quarian ships and 35,000 Geth vessels existed, this was a major upgrade. The immune systems of the Quarians had also increased. Thanks to the Geth, Quarians were now able to walk around their homeworld without their suits, but it would still take time before they could arrive on another planet without an environmental suit.

Date: May 4th, 2091.

Construction began on a Geth space station, similar to that of the station that the Heretics resided in. It was planned to hold billions upon billions of Geth platforms at a time, as well as many ships of various builds. Defenses for the station would consist mainly of plasma and pulse based weaponry.

Date: September, 2092.

An Inusannon fortress was discovered on Favique, an Eezo rich, frozen terrestrial world. The structure was located inside of a mountain, and it contained various Inusynthetic and Inusannon technologies, such as weaponry, ancient medications, and blueprints for magnetohydrodynamic weaponry.

When a Quarian team consisting of Daro'Xen vas Moreh, three marines, and Ithera'Lyik vas Qwib-Qwib ventured farther into the desolate structure, they found a datapad containing instructions on how to make an Inusannon FTL drive. A few meters away from the datapad, there was an entryway to a larger room, one that contained an Inusannon/Inusynthetic created FTL drive. The drive was different from the untranslatable blueprints that Lyna and I found on Aite, it was older than the blueprints by hundreds of years, but it was intact. After gawking at the drive for a short amount of time, Daro'Xen found an interchangeable Inusannon IFF. The IFF was made to change between the original tags of the ship that it was installed onto, and then the Inusannon identifications afterwards. From what Daro'Xen told me, it was mainly used in the Reaper war in an attempt to fool the Reapers, this didn't work against such a force, but it did help the Inusannon reach somewhat of a small understanding on how Reapers worked.

Soon after returning to Rannoch with the technologies recovered from Favique, Daro'Xen and her team start to reverse engineer the drive. They also contacted Sirius and I to help translate the Inusannon languages. Of course, I accepted this, but I requested a few upgrades to be made to the _Bermuda_. I wanted to have their latest technologies for the EMDrive Mark 4, as well as one of their soon-to-be reverse engineered Vonya drives. Unlike the Pythet drive, the Vonya was much safer in terms of a hazardous event occurring inside of the drive. Where a Pythet drive would overload, it could cause high amounts of destruction through the system that it was in. With a Vonya FTL drive, it would cause the entire ship to shut down, and go into an emergency lockdown. Sure, it sounded greedy, but I needed something better than an Eezo core that could travel only ten light years per day.

Kapo'Xen approved the upgrades, which I was very thankful for. However, I did what I was asked to do by the Quarians; Sirius and I both completely translated the language barriers that were blocking the URG scientists from accessing the Inusannon technologies. As another gesture of appreciation for the upgrades to the _Bermuda_ , Sirius developed an update for URG translators. He added Mertvalodazyk, or the main language of the Inusannon to the URG's translation software.

The Inusannon/Inusynthetic Vonya FTL drive was successfully reverse engineered after a few months, and put into mass production for URG ships. The _Bermuda_ was also equipped with the drive. I was told by Daro'Xen that the drive should be able to travel 80 light years per day, but it needed to cool down every three days between uses. She also told me to use the EMDrive, which traveled approximately 20 light years per day, if I was to do any short trips in a system or inside of a cluster.

Before I left Rannoch, Daro'Xen told me about a cloaking device that would be used by Geth ships when they were in atmosphere. The entire visibility of the ship would be masked, but this would only work on low mass to medium mass vessels. During my conversation with Xen, she went over my head with how the cloaking devices worked. From what I made out of Xen's words, the devices were essentially a scaled up version of a tactical cloak, but they were too expensive to be put into mass use. Only a few Quarian and Geth ships were able to get the cloaking devices, and even then the vessels would have to be at most 40 meters long to even utilize half of the potential of the cloak.

Date: December 26th, 2094.

I received a text on my Nexus VI omni-tool from Nuite'Valik vas Qwib-Qwib. It was a surprise to me, as I hadn't had contact with Nuite since 2077. I was surprised that she was still an admiral after twenty years had passed.

 _-The Search for the Inusannon-_

' _[Kyle Terrah vas Bermuda,_

 _Our exploration fleets have been equipped with both the EMDrive Mark 4 and the Inusannon Vonya drive. We think that we are close to finding the Inusannon, very close in fact. There have been heat signatures detected in the far edges of the galaxy. To be specific, in the Lidera Kop'ye cluster. We don't know what it is exactly, but our orbital telescopes have determined the objects to be at least 4,000 light years away._

 _There have been odd anomalies detected in that sector, such as the light of a star being blocked by large objects. Whatever is in that region, it's colossal, and our exploration teams are eager to start the journey to the Lidera Kop'ye cluster. We've narrowed the time down, and we should arrive in-system within 40 days. If you wish to come with the exploration fleets, please meet us at the edge of the Tikkun system. This is a big find for the entire galaxy, and it must not wait for us, we will be leaving tomorrow. Make your choice quickly, Terrah._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Nuite'Valik vas Qwib Qwib]'_

I raised my eyebrow when I read over the text, the message surprised me. I admired how far the Inusannon got away from the galaxy to escape from the Reaper threat. It was smart in their part, going to a place where the Reapers couldn't find them, or reach them in a reasonable amount of time.

A short amount of time passed as I looked through the text I was sent. I didn't even bother replying to the admiral, instead I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, weighing my options. Going with the exploration fleet seemed like a good idea at first, but what if the Inusannon thought that the exploration fleet was hostile? I guessed that I would just have to risk the chance that everything wouldn't go so smoothly, or we'd just be blown into molecular bits.

 _Sirius, do you have any way to guarantee that the Inusannon won't attack us?_

' _They probably won't attack you, but I'd say that we'd be better off with classifying the Bermuda with an Inusannon IFF.'_

 _The Quarians have one of those, I don't suppose that you could extract the information from the IFF to the Bermuda's systems, then implement it that way?_

' _Do you even know what an IFF system is? I can't exactly extract information from a physical object.'_

 _I know what it is, I just assumed that with the technology of the Inusannon, you'd be able to extract data from it._

' _I can't extract data from it, but I could attempt to edit our own IFF systems to display us as both Asari and Inusannon. It would take time, but I'm nearly certain that it work. If it doesn't, we'll find another solution.'_

 _Well, get on with editing the IFF. I don't plan on being blasted into smithereens just yet._

' _So you plan on being blasted into smithereens in the future?'_

 _Okay, smart ass. I don't want to be turned into solar dust in general, now start tweaking our IFFs._

' _Got it. Be very careful with what you say around the Inusannon if we do find them. They're not very trusting of new races, especially after what happened with the Thoi'han and the Reapers.'_

 _Plot a course for the Tikkun system as well. I'll go speak to Lyna about the change of plans._

I pushed myself up from where I was sitting in the pilot's seat of the _Bermuda_. Before Nuite texted me about the search for the Inusannon, Lyna and I were scheduled to a job for Aria. I turned my omni-tool off, then started my walk over to Lyna's quarters.

As soon as I was standing before Lyna's door, I walked right on into her room to see her examining a datapad of some kind. She looked up at me, clothed in her normal attire of a light grey and dark gold bodysuit. "You could have knocked a few times instead of barging in like that," Lyna blankly stated. She had a small smile across her face as well.

"I'll attempt to stop doing that, Lyna. I just need to talk to you."

Lyna set her datapad down on the table in front of her, then turned her whole body towards me. "Well don't leave me hanging. What's on your mind?"

"The URG. They've found the Inusannon about 4,000 light years away," I took a deep breath before I spoke again. "Nuite'Valik vas Qwib-Qwib sent me a text a few minutes ago, explaining that they would be leaving the Tikkun system tomorrow. If we want to go with them to make sure that the meeting with the Inusannon goes well, we can. Or we could let the Quarians be blown into pieces."

"I guess we're not doing the job for Aria then. That's a shame, 75,000 credits would be nice to have." Lyna bit down on her lower lip shortly after speaking.

I moved a bit closer to Lyna, then rested one of my hands on her desk. Staring straight into her eye, I finally began to speak. "10,000 credits pales in comparison to the discovery of the Inusannon. If we get them on our side along with the Geth and the Quarians, we'll stand a better chance at defeating the Reapers than any other species that have been wiped out by them in the past. Hell, if we even want to come close to defeating the Reapers, we'll need every advantage possible on our side."

Lyna closed her eyes for a few moments and brought her hands up to her temples. "Okay, I'll just 'casually' call up Aria and call off our plans with her. She won't be thrilled that we've denied her job to go chasing ghosts. I'll head along with you, Kyle, but if this is a big waste of time, I'm not going to be very happy."

"I trust the URG enough to know what they're doing. Sure, the Geth approached a neutron star, and their first tests of the Element Zero infused EMDrive didn't go so well, but have a little faith, Lyna." I calmly said, taking a few deep breaths as I looked on into the Asari's eyes.

"I have my reasons on why not to trust the URG, but I'll go with you," she sighed. Lyna then sighed once again, closing the tabs on her datapad. She held her hand up to me, waving at the door. "Let me work out a plan with Aria, just get us to the URG's fleet."

"Before I go. I want to know what your reasons are for not trusting the United Rannoch Government. They are our allies, and they have helped us on multiple occasions," I stubbornly commented.

The Asari looked at me for a few seconds, rolling her eyes, then setting her datapad onto the table that she was sitting at moments before. "First off, Kyle. In 2075, the Quarians were still migrants, and the Geth were obviously enemies of the council. When you came here, and changed everything as I knew it, the Quarians and Geth became our 'allies' in about a year. Even the most evident of facts are hard to believe Kyle, and to be completely honest with you, I think this whole alliance is fishy. You can't just unite two warring races in a single day, then have them coexist peacefully for a century or more afterwards. We may be more than a decade into this alliance, but I'm certain that the URG can't be trusted just yet. You and I probably don't even know half of the things that they are up to."

I raised a single eyebrow at what Lyna said, after a few moments of silence had passed, a small chuckle escaped from my lips. Shaking my head from side to side, I put my fingers onto my temples, then rubbed them lightly. Once that was all over, I studied Lyna's facial expressions. Annoyance was clearly displaying on her face, and her arms were crossed under her chest. "You're paranoid, Lyna. I've been getting yearly updates from Daro'Xen, all of the URG's progress with technology. Sure, there could be a few fights against Quarian and Geth civilians, but I sincerely doubt that the URG is going to destabilize itself. If anything, they're going to continue growing, since their economy is just booming at the moment. What I did with the Geth and Quarians in 2077, I made sure that it would stick, and that they would not fall apart. They are our allies, and that will not change for a good while. Please, at least try to trust what they're doing, and if you still think that they're 'corrupt' in a few months, I'll schedule a meeting with the Consensus and Admiralty Board to prove you wrong."

"It's not about who is right and who is wrong, Kyle. I feel that something much more sinister is occurring. The feeling sits at the back of my mind, constantly telling me that the URG is not to be trusted, and that it shouldn't even exist. I know that the feeling is not paranoia, but I just can't shake it from my mind. How do we not know that the URG is plotting something much bigger than all of us could ever imagine? How do we not know that they-"

"Lyna, I ask that you stop worrying about something so trivial. They're not plotting against us. They're not corrupt. You must stop this train of thought. Hell, I plead that you do." I interrupted Lyna, raising my voice at her.

The Asari stared into my eyes for a few seconds, she sighed and turned away from me. "I guess that we will see what happens in the coming decades. Go on and get some rest, I'll finish up what I must with Aria."

"Fine, fine. Just meet me at the bridge in a few hours. We'll need to talk with the exploration flotilla before we do anything else."

I walked out of Lyna's quarter's right after that, putting my hand on the bridge of my nose with a soft sigh following it. I could feel the tensions building in this matter. Lyna wanted to work under Aria, but we had more pressing matters than working under Aria. Sure, she was the most feared woman in the galaxy, but the Inusannon were more important. No matter, I had my own tasks.

 _Sirius, when will we arrive at the Tikkun system?_

' _Approximately nine hours. Get some rest, you'll need it.'_

 _You know I don't sleep very well._

' _Look, you need rest, especially in this situation. You're going to be meeting with the Quarians to prepare for the Inusannon. I want you to be in the best shape possible. I'll be monitoring the communications anyways, and I'll wake you up should I need any help with my tasks.'_

 _I don't need any sleep, I just rested four hours ago. I'll be fine!_

' _You won't be saying that in nine hours if you choose to stay awake. This is the last time I'll say this, get some rest.'_

 _Fine. Just alert me when we're 15 minutes out. I'll probably need to go over some stuff with Lyna._

I walked over to the pilot's seat, where I usually would rest. Even though I wasn't a pilot of a craft such as this, I still enjoyed looking over the consoles every so often. It was almost calming for me, and reminded me of how I used to fly the Cessna 172 Skyhawk. Though that time had long past, I still was sentimental about it all. I had my laptop with me, the Alienware had always sat by my side in the ship, as well as my Samsung Galaxy S4.

Now that I was in 2095, all of these things seemed primitive to me. No longer had I needed to carry those things around in my pocket, or in my backpack. I had a computer on my wrist, something that would have seemed foreign to me almost eight decades ago. Occasionally, I would open up my laptop and watch a few videos on the 1920x1080p display. I made it a goal to always keep these things by my side.

I was a weird person. Keeping things that were from the figurative Stone Age, but I liked my technology. I liked that feeling of being back in 2015, away from all of these diplomatic missions and jobs from a crime lord. It would be silly to say that I didn't want to go back, but this was my life now. Living a life in a previously thought-to-be fiction world, preparing for an unstoppable enemy.

Most of the jobs that Aria gave Lyna and I were actually tame. It was usually collecting credits from someone who was in her debt. There was resistance on occasion, but I had witnessed no casualties. Many of the people that attempted to resist paying, or delay the payments, quickly changed their minds after seeing the weapons that Lyna and I carried.

I sat down in the seat, leaning back and closing my eyes, thinking over everything that had happened so far. I had killed a man years ago. Taken a life from the dirty streets of Illium. Needless to say, I felt terrible for the first few years, but now I accept what I did. I removed some of the criminal scum of Omega. Well, less than one percent of it. It was just one Batarian, but still, I couldn't get over the fact that I actually killed a person.

Day in and day out, it haunted my mind, my very presence. Occasionally I would dream about what I did, what Sirius made me do. The Batarian's face had been burned into my mind, reminding me of what monstrous acts I had caused. His look of terror when the beam burned through his body was unforgettable. To see that expression on someone's face, to hear their screams of hellish pain and agony were terrible. I hated it all. Killing a living being for the first time in my life. It wasn't something that I could forget. It wasn't something along the lines of killing a fly or a rat, but it was so much more.

Lyna had helped me through all of it as well, even before we seriously got into a relationship, she was helping me cope with taking another's life. I had to trust every word she said. She was older than me, wiser than I was. She knew this galaxy better than I did. Where I knew of future events, she knew how to work it, all the loopholes.

We made a great team, there wasn't any doubt about that. We were almost perfect, but there were many things that we could improve upon. Lyna and I still got into the occasional argument, but for the most part, we agreed on what jobs we were given. The woman was amazing, a friend that I could cherish for the rest of my extended life. Though I would have thought that she was fictional years upon years ago, I knew that this was my reality now.

Sleep soon took over my body, letting my thoughts fade away, and my body fall into unconsciousness. I did have one last thought that slipped through my mind before I slipped away into slumber: Just how lucky I was to meet Lyna, to meet everyone that had helped me so far. If luck wasn't on my side, a lot of things would have gone differently, and I probably would have already been on an experimenting table if it wasn't for those people. Luck usually was by my side, accompanying me on every mission, every journey. I knew I would run out of it sooner or later, but I would make sure to enjoy it while I still could.

[-]

" _She won't live, but then again, there is a small chance that she'll come back. Though she wouldn't be the same. Terrah, I'm sorry, but I'm not sure if we can help you in this aspect. Do you want to transfer her brain to an empty Inusynthetic shell?" A creature before me asked, his voice wavering between synthetic and organic._

" _No, no! There must be something that you can do! I can't lose her, not yet! We can't do that to her either!" I yelled, the glow of the room that I was started to fluctuate a violet hue, and a pure golden rod yellow. I was angry, I was confused, I didn't even know what to feel._

 _The creature paced back, his body language almost seeming pitiful. "I don't know what to tell you, Terrah. You're asking us to do the impossible. We can't just bring a person back like we're some sort of gods and goddesses."_

" _The Federation is able to do it, Ovekhal. She may not be as great of an asset as we could have hoped, but she's still important. We need her to strengthen our ties with the Council," a secondary voice said, looking over a broken, bloodied body._

" _You and I both know that bringing someone back isn't easy, especially after an injury like this. She'll have to be augmented to survive, and she might not even be the same person if we go through with this."_

 _I finally piped in after the creatures had a little talk amongst themselves. "I don't care what she looks like, or what the Federation does to her. All I care about is that she lives. It's a tall order, but I know that she is able to be brought back."_

 _One of the creatures turned back towards me, who I presumed was Ovekhal. "We'll try to bring her back, Terrah, but I can't promise that it will work."_

 _I sighed, stepping away from the creatures. Both of them had a shadowy resemblance, and they were quite tall. I must have looked like a dwarf to them, even though I stood at 6'3. "I've spent too much time with her to leave her in this state. She deserves a second chance. We all do at some point."_

" _If she matters to you this much, the Federation will attempt to abide to your request. We'll need some room to work on her, but you'll be informed if our procedure is a success."_

 _I nodded at Ovekhal, then exited the room with a scowl on my face. I turned around in the doorway, just to see Ovekhal and his assistant standing there, looking over Lyna's body. "Don't fuck this up. The Council will cease cooperation with us if she doesn't report for five years. If possible, have Rithari work on the project as well. She may not be medical personnel, but she knows Lyna just as much as I do."_

" _Are you serious about putting the URG's top nuclear physicist onto a medical operation? Do you know how crazy that is?" Ovekhal inquired, a hint of rage coming onto his expression. "Do you not trust our federation with the fragile shell of your Asari companion?"_

" _I trust the Inusannon with Human lives, because I know that your experiments actually worked. However, no one knows what will happen to an Asari in that process."_

" _Humanity has a similar genetic structure to the Asari, mostly with physical appearances. We may not know every single thing about the Asari, but I'm sure that the Protheans that somehow are a part of the URG can help us out with that. Bringing the Inuquarian into this will only create issues."_

 _Ovekhal's assistant slowly walked to his side, putting a hand onto her commander's shoulder. "You must put your trust in us, Kyle. We are not Reapers, and we only mean the best for your fallen comrade. Teval'Rithari will not be a part of this project. Ovekhal and I have already selected the officers that will work to resurrect Ms. Rilac. I assure you that our best doctors will be working on her, but the process will take time."_

 _I looked over my shoulder, squinting my eyes at the two Inusannon medical officers. "How much time?"_

" _Years. At the moment, I estimate that it will take at least four years to reconstruct her body." Ovekhal assured me, gesturing towards the charred, bloodied skin of Lyna._

" _Then get to it. I'll be working on Rannoch, alert me of any new updates. I might even work with Teval, now that I think about it." I murmured, beginning to step out of the doorway._

 _Once I was out of the room, I could hear a muffled voice coming from Ovekhal's assistant. "Do you think that we can really bring her back to life?"_

" _Nadeus. I hope so…"_

[-]

Date: December 27th, 2094.

I awoke with a start, gasping for breath. It was clear that I wasn't in a good shape after the dream that I had, since beads of sweat were dripping down my face. Shaking my head from side to side, I looked at the consoles before me. Sure enough, we were in the Tikkun system, specifically over Rannoch. The URG homeworld looked nice, and it was bustling with Quarian/Geth activity. The Migrant and Geth fleets floated over the homeworld in an organized formation, and cities were spiking up from the surface of Rannoch. I smiled, knowing that I helped the Quarians reunite with the Geth on their homeworld.

Coexistence was beautiful, and it was something that I thought I would never see in my life, but here it was, the Quarians and the Geth combining their technologies to protect their people from the upcoming Reaper war. There was a fleet farther away from Rannoch, slowly venturing out to the far rim. Each of the ships were new, or upgraded. In the center of the whole thing stood a highly advanced Prothean, Geth, and Quarian engineered flagship.

' _Anriis Class Flagship. The only one currently in existence. It's the ship that sports the Inusannon IFF. The Quarians have named it Vekaani. It looks amazing, even from here.'_

 _Agreed. Let's just meet up with the URG, and we can get through with this._

Lyna sat to the right of me in the copilot's seat. She looked over at me, and offered a slight wave. "Hey Kyle. I'm glad you're finally awake."

"Yeah. I didn't exactly have the best night's rest, but it's good to finally be in the Tikkun system."

Suddenly, the console in front of me pinged. A small message read out that the _Vekaani_ was hailing the _Bermuda_. I glided my hand over the panel, swiping my hand through it. A display popped up of Nuite'Valik, who was in her environmental suit. A few Quarians here and there were out of them, but there were still many that kept them on. "Kyle Terrah vas Bermuda, it's good to see you again," Nuite calmly greeted.

"It's nice to see you too, Nuite'Valik. I assume that your people have all of the necessary supplies for this journey?" I inquired, a fake smile present on my face.

Nuite nodded her head, pressing down on the console before her. "Every ship has what the crew of it needs, whether that be food, antibiotics, or water."

I leaned back in my seat, a soft sigh escaping from my lips. "Good, good. We will be going into the Inusannon system first, just in case they start shooting."

"We were led to believe that the Inusannon were a docile species." Nuite plainly said.

"Let me put this into perspective for you, Nuite. If an unknown ship entered URG space, how would you feel? I'd imagine that you'd blow them out of the sky, completely demolishing any hopes of diplomatic relations with them. Especially if they had a fleet right behind them, and a heavily armed one at that." I slowly explained.

"You bring up a good point, but the Consensus would already have them flagged by the time they were even an astronomical unit away from our stations," Nuite argued, pushing herself off of the console. "I don't want to delay this for much longer. Let's just get into FTL, and find the Inusannon. Time is not unlimited, so I say we shouldn't waste it."

I nodded my head. "We know our job, but we don't know what is out there. Stay safe, Nuite'Valik. We'll see each other in forty days."

"Goodbye, Terrah." Nuite simply said, closing the communications between us shortly after she finished speaking.

Turning my gaze to Lyna, I shrugged my shoulders. I heard the main engagement process of the Vonya drive start up. It wasn't the first time that the _Bermuda_ had used the drive, but for a journey like this, I wasn't exactly sure on how it would perform. Lyna and I both knew the cooldown times for each of our drives, but there was always the risk of one overheating.

Nonetheless, I gazed out of one of the front windows, seeing a purple and maroon build-up at the nose of the _Bermuda_. It was an amazing sight, the colors blending perfectly together. In just a few seconds, the first stage of the Vonya's preparation into FTL had been completed. The entire URG exploration flotilla had the same effect, and nothing would be stopping them from jumping into FTL.

Suddenly, the _Bermuda_ 's thrusters engaged, and the Dystopia Class Corvette was shot off into an unknown region of the galaxy. Red and purple particles engulfed the ship, signifying that we were now in transit to the Inusannon system. It'd be a long ride, but I was sure that our journey would be worth it.

Lyna turned her head towards me, a grin spread across her face. "That never gets old, does it?"

"No, it doesn't. The tech we have now is amazing, much more than I could have imagined when I first set foot on Thessia." I chuckled, leaning back against my seat. The maroon and purple effects of the drive calming my nerves. Something about the particles and colors caused me to feel as if I was back at Earth. I couldn't exactly describe the feeling, it was definitely an odd one.

"It's been a long time since then, Kyle. A lot has changed, and it's honestly breathtaking to be here now, on a journey to uncharted space." Lyna sighed, turning her gaze towards me.

I managed to take my eyes off of the windows, and looked over in Lyna's direction. "A lot has changed indeed, but I couldn't have done it without you."

She raised one of her eyebrows at me. "Oh?"

"Yeah, I mean you've helped me a lot, Lyna. I can't even begin to describe how much it means to me, or how much you mean to me," I told Lyna.

"I'd imagine your AI would take some credit in that field, but thank you. I'm glad that I found you, and not one of my colleagues," she responded.

I merely nodded my head, a smile creeping onto my face. "Yeah. I'm just glad that we'll have 40 days of rest before we get into the Inusannon system. We'll have plenty of time to talk, plenty of time to do anything we want."

"It would be a perfect time to train as well. Though what you say is true, maybe in those forty days, I could learn more about your past. We haven't had much time to do that, and the only time that we did, I wasn't in such a nice state of mind." Lyna casually laughed.

"I'm up for it if you promise not to force memories out of my head," I plainly spoke, recalling what Lyna did to me when I revealed my true origins.

Lyna sighed, a frown forming over her face. She looked down to her feet and shook her head from side to side. "I was angry and confused. All of this information was new to me, and I just wanted answers. What I got from your head didn't calm me down either. You know things that could cause massive wars throughout the galaxy, between my people and the Citadel races."

I turned my gaze off of Lyna, then looked back over to the window that I was staring at minutes before. "Some things are best kept a secret. I know the future events, but what we have done, and what we are doing now, will change the course of the history as I know it. I know that the Reapers will come, but I do not know how the war will turn out."

"We're changing the path of history, one that differs from what you saw in the stories of your universe. I get that a lot of things won't be the same, but we'll be okay as long as you're alive," Lyna explained, pushing herself up from her seat.

I nodded my head after a small moment of silence had passed. "I'm not a god, Lyna. I'm just a man with the answers to the future. If I died now, chances are that the Reapers would take heavy losses. You would take over for me, provide the Council with the information that you learned, and convince them to prepare for the invasion, no matter the cost."

"That's where you're wrong. I don't know what the future holds, whereas you do. The memories that you carry could destabilize the entire galaxy, or bring it together in a great union of people. You saw what the reactions were to your memories in 2077. Just think about what would happen if the United Rannoch Government, or the Council got ahold of what you know..."

"All of those statements are why I've refused to go into Citadel space. I can't risk being taken away to be dissected, or tortured for information on a rivaling clan, government, or gang," I truthfully explained, knowing just how much trouble that I would be in if any of these scenarios occurred.

Lyna moved towards me slowly, resting one of her hands on my shoulder. I tore my eyes off of the entrancing stars and exoplanets passing by the ship, and set my gaze on Lyna. "I understand your reasoning, but you must know that the only way that we can properly prepare for this goddess-forsaken war is to meet the Council. We can't do this with just the URG or the 'Inusannon,' we need the whole galaxy to help us," Lyna spoke in a slightly desperate tone.

"We'll be fine as long as we keep the conflicts to a minimum. There will be a lot of factors that will go into our victory, or our defeat. If we play our cards right, we'll only lose a few hundred worlds."

She closed her eyes, and let a sigh slip out of her mouth. "We can't afford to lose that much, Kyle. A few hundred worlds could equal to a trillion losses."

I pushed myself up from my seat so I could be eye-to-eye with Lyna. "If we find the Inusannon and have them convince the Council of the Reapers, the galaxy will have enough time to prepare. As I said before, we have decades to talk about this. For now, let's take some time to rest, and have a forty day in-ship vacation."

"Fine, I'll be resting in my quarters if you need me," Lyna curtly replied, walking off shortly afterwards.

I nodded at Lyna's departure from the ship's cockpit, then sat myself back down in the pilot's seat.

 _Sirius, what are the chances of the galaxy surviving if we don't find the Inusannon?_

' _Chances are slim. The Quarians and Geth would be the galaxy's most powerful asset, but the Reapers would put the most force on them, guaranteeing that they fall first.'_

 _And with the Inusannon?_

' _I can't determine that. Their population and technology after 100,000 years of peace are unknown to me. Even my prediction would be unclear. When we finally reach the Inusannon's system, I'll be able to make a more accurate conclusion, but not now.'_

 _Moving on, I've been wanting to ask you a question for a while._

' _Don't keep me waiting, what is the question?'_

 _Why did the Reapers attack the Inusannon and the Inusynthetics? I mean, they were coexisting, but the Reapers attacked them anyways. I thought the Reapers wanted synthesis._

' _We weren't doing it correctly. The Reapers wanted to be in control of the Inusynthetics. They want synthesis, but in their own way, where they are the dominant species. The Inusannon and Inusynthetics didn't agree, so we warred with the Reapers. Consequently, when my people were down to the millions, we decided to flee to where the Reapers couldn't find us. A few Inusynthetics were left to warn the next species, but some of us were corrupted by the Reapers. Rigel had the worst of it, and now he serves the Reapers, feeding false information to the ones that find him.'_

 _Tell me, how does this corruption even happen? Through a virus? Malware?_

' _Inusynthetic corruption is a very… Careful process performed by the Reapers. It takes years, maybe even decades. It starts by the Reapers interacting with the Inusynthetic, and slowly they turn the Inusynthetic to their side. Once that is done, the Reaper would gain control of the Inusynthetic, and feed off of Inusannon databases.'_

 _Who was the first to be corrupted? What exactly did they do?_

' _Procyon was the first of many. Her exact designation is unknown to me, I wasn't created until after her deactivation by the Inusannon. She gave the Reapers coordinates to a heavily populated Inusannon colony named Vakysas. In this cycle, it is known as Haestrom.'_

 _I hate to be asking so many questions, but how did the Inusannon deactivate her?_

' _Ask all the questions you want, it's not like we're in battle or in a diplomatic meeting with the URG. Anyways, the creator of Procyon, Sivobokal went to where her server was located. Sivobokal took a highly powerful rifle with him, and fried the circuitry in her server with it. It angered the Reapers, who in turn increased their offensive push into Inusannon territory.'_

 _That's… A lot to think about. I'll talk to you in a few hours, Sirius. Thank you for talking with me._

' _We'll be doing more and more talking as we near the Inusannon system.'_

 _Got it._

I disconnected my link with Sirius, and activated my omni-tool. I had transferred my music from my laptop and phone to my omni-tool a few days ago, just so I could have easier access to it. Soon, the calming tune of Sam Hulick's music started to play in my ears, starting out with ' _Under the Stars.'_

 **A/N: Things are slowly heating up, and I'm desperately itching to write the Inusannon diplomatic scene.**


	20. Chapter 20: Lone Survivor

Chapter 20:

Date: December 31st, 2094. Four days after transition to FTL.

The journey to the Inusannon system had been going well so far, but we were only four days in. This marked the journey as only 10% done, an achievement for our exploration fleet approaching Inusannon territory. My time was divided between speaking to Lyna and Sirius about what we could expect when we entered Inusannon territory, since I had very little to do while the _Bermuda_ and the URG flotilla were in transit.

Communication with the URG fleet was almost nonexistent while our drives were in motion. Occasionally, the _Bermuda_ would get a ping from one of the Geth ships while we were using the EMDrive in place of the reverse-engineered Vonya drive. Every ship that was a part of the URG fleet was equipped with the same drives as the _Bermuda_. This was the cause of the Vonya drives overheating in 72 hour timeframes, it was a powerful drive, traveling around 80 light years per day, but it sported the downside of overheating. The EMDrive proved to be useful, by sporting a top speed of 20 light years in a day, it provided a decent speed as the Vonya cooled down.

Lyna and I had yet to meld, she was itching to join our minds together, and it was obvious that she simply wanted to know more about me, mainly my history. Today, I decided that I would finally satisfy Lyna's hunger for learning about my past, and even Humanity's past. Before, I would brush her requests off, as we usually had more important matters to attend to.

A few hours ago, I informed Lyna that we could meld, for the cause that nothing was happening today. I made my way over to her quarters, where she was impatiently waiting for me to arrive. I knew that today was going to be a long day, as I would be spending most of my time in a meld with Lyna.

When I entered Lyna's quarters, I was greeted with the sight of her looking at a holographic monitor. I couldn't see much of the display, as Lyna's frame covered most of the screen before her. She shut it off shortly after hearing me enter the room. In an instant, Lyna was facing me, a noticeable frown displayed across her expression. "Kyle, are you ready yet?"

"I'm ready to meld with you, if that's what you're asking," I said, walking right up to Lyna. She finally had a smile spread across her face when I finished my sentence.

"Finally. I was beginning to think that you would never share your past with me," Lyna replied. She moved over to her bed, and sat down on it. She motioned me over to sit down next to her. Lyna took my hands in her own as I sat down.

I turned my gaze over to Lyna, staring into her eyes. I gripped Lyna's hands as she gripped mine. "Just a warning for you, my past isn't the most exciting thing in the galaxy."

Lyna nodded her head at my statement. She closed her eyelids and her lips turned into a straight expression. "Kyle Terrah, relax your physical and mental forms. Release control of the walls that barricade your mind. Mentally reach out to the stars that bind us together in unity. Allow me to see your true nature, experience your species' past, and drive both of us into a new existence. Show me the secrets that you keep close to your heart, love. Enable me to enter your mind and observe what exactly happened in your prior life…" Lyna trailed off. Suddenly, she opened her eyelids, revealing one of the darkest shades of black that I had seen in my life. A dark blue biotic field formed over my body, and I heard the words that would knock me into a trance-like state. "Embrace eternity!"

The room around me became distorted. Soon, the furniture dissolved into mere shapes, only to fade away in a few brief seconds. A presence other than Sirius entered my mind, flooding it with a calming, yet trained sense of emotion. Minutes seemed to pass before I finally heard Lyna's voice call out in my conscience.

 _"_ _Kyle!"_

 _Lyna… You were much gentler with the meld this time._

 _"_ _As I said a few days ago, I wasn't in a good state of mind when we melded on Aite."_

 _I understand that, Lyna. I was just stating that your presence is much more enjoyable now._

 _"_ _That's good for the both of us. I despised that day, but what came to light in those few hours was more than I could comprehend. Now, I seek to come to the same understanding that you have found with me. I want to see your memories. I strive to know more about the origins of your species."_

 _I've forgotten much of what I learned when I was younger. The history that I have about Humanity is blurred, some of it has even been replaced with the memories that I have experienced in this new life._

 _"_ _A memory is never forgotten, Kyle. It is merely stored in a vault of unused information. You may not recall what you have seen or studied, but your memories will always be with you. They might just have to be recovered by the ones that you love the most."_

 _I don't think it's possible to gather every memory that I have experienced in my life. I don't even want to remember some of them._

 _"_ _Someday, these memories will have to come to light, and you'll have to deal with them."_

 _I'll deal with them now, rather than later._

 _"_ _Allow me to access your past, so that we may relive it together."_

I dropped the barricades in my mind, allowing Lyna to explore the memories that it held, and that I had forcefully forgotten throughout my life.

[-][-][][][-][-]

Date: April 31st, 2014. 7:29 P.M. About 80 years ago, when I was 23 years old.

"Kyle, come on man, it'll be fun. Besides, you need a break."

"Josh is right, all you do is just study, study, and study." Victor chuckled, lightly jabbing me on the shoulder.

I sighed softly, and leaned back against the front of Josh's Ford F150 pick-up truck, staring at my two childhood friends. "Both of you know that I have that mid-term aviation exam coming up in a month. I need to study as much as possible, and I can't afford to fail that. I'm not over exaggerating either, that would be $18,000 down the drain."

Victor rolled his eyes, slowly walking up towards me. He patted me on my shoulders and smiled brightly at me. "Says the one who refills his gas tank when it's only three quarters of the way empty. Seriously, you spend more on gas than Josh and I combined!"

Crossing my arms under my chest, I shrugged my shoulders. "You can never be too careful. Besides, you're one to talk," I casually commented, resting my hands on the bumper of the F150.

"Hm? How am I one to talk?" Victor asked, staring at me with an inquiring expression on his face.

"Pft. Don't pretend like we don't know about your dates, Victor. You just told us last week of how you went on this fantastic date with Kate, and how much fun it was. Hell, you even showed me the bill, which topped out at $450," Josh piped into the conversation, walking up behind Victor and giving him a slap on the back.

Victor looked between Josh and me, a mask of betrayal spread across his face. "Oh fuck you guys! That was for our anniversary!"

"You're with Kate for one month, and suddenly you're spending a fortune on her? Keep it up, and you'll be begging for a pack of ramen on the corner of 17th Street," I jested.

Before Victor could respond, Josh stepped over to the door of his truck, and put his hand on the handle. "You know, we can continue the rest of this conversation on the road, instead of standing around in a 7-Eleven's parking lot like a bunch of dorks."

I pushed myself off of the bumper of the truck, and held a stare with Victor for a good few seconds. He eventually responded by jokingly flipping me off, moving to the front passenger door. Victor opened it and hoisted himself inside of Josh's truck. "Get in the back, Terrah. We wouldn't want to leave you in the middle of Boulder, Colorado, now would we?"

I rolled my eyes, while I strode over to the back door. Yanking it open, I entered the Ford F150 and got myself situated on the hard, white, leather seats. I pulled the light-grey seatbelt across my body and felt the tightness of the fabric pressing against my clothed skin. "Yeah, well. It's not like I could take an Uber back to Denver."

"As if you would have enough money to get an Uber. The rates are through the roof for most rides. Besides, didn't you just say that you couldn't afford to take your Aviation class again?" Josh asked, looking back at me for a second as he put his keys into the ignition of the F150 and started the truck moments later. Soon enough, the engine of Josh's truck roared to life, and Josh turned his head forwards.

"I have enough money for standard expenses, but I'm not Bill Gates. I don't have $18,000 in my pocket at all times," I sarcastically responded, then pulled my Samsung Galaxy S4 out of my pocket. I searched through some emails as Josh pulled out of the parking lot and then turned onto US-36.

Victor put his feet onto the dashboard, and looked back to me with a smirk on his face. "Mind getting me a Pepsi out of my bag?"

"Fine," I said in an annoyed tone and gazed at my friend for a few seconds. I reached over to the left side of the truck to grab Victor's bag, and once I grasped it by one of its straps, I pulled it over to the middle of the truck and slid the front zipper down. Sure enough, there was a can of Pepsi there, which fell down onto the dirty floor of the truck as soon as the front zipper of the pack was fully open. I picked up the soda can and tossed it to Victor, who caught with a light grin on his face.

"Thanks, dude," Victor spoke in a gleeful tone. He quickly popped the top off of the Pepsi can, since the can was shaken and tossed around, the carbonated liquid squirted out of the top of the aluminum can. It sprayed all over the interior of the truck. Some of it landed on me, some of it on Victor, and some on Josh.

Josh took his eyes off of the road, and backhanded Victor on his cheek. "It'd be fucking amazing if you didn't spray that shit all over my jeans. I just cleaned these too!" Josh angrily yelled at Victor, all of his attention now focused on Victor rather than on driving.

Instead of reacting in a hostile manner, Victor quickly glanced at the highway, and put his hands on the wheel. He yanked it to the right, narrowly avoiding a Toyota Corolla that was merging into our lane. As a result, our truck veered off of the highway and into a grassy area at 75 miles per hour. I had no way of controlling this, only being able to watch as we headed directly for a tree. It wasn't a puny tree either. It was a large, blue spruce tree. "Put your damn foot on the brakes!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, relaxing all of my muscles as the truck was on a collision course with the tree.

I closed my eyes and remembered a decision that Josh made just a few weeks ago. He had taken the airbags out of his truck, to make more room for his laptop. At the time, I called him a damned idiot for doing so. It surprised me that I was right in this aspect, that he never thought of the consequences, that he never thought anything would happen to him. When I reopened my eyes, I was greeted with the sight of a tree that the truck was approaching at an incredibly quick rate of speed.

Josh didn't hear me in time, but even if he did, the Ford F150 would still collide with the tree. Though the chances of survival could have been raised with the deceleration of the truck, everything seemed to slow down for me. Victor's can of soda was out of his hands and he was desperately trying to steer out of the way. Josh was in utter shock, staring down at the tree with his mouth open. I heard the crunching of the bumper as it impacted with the tree, the windshield shattered into small shards of glass, and I could feel a slight sense of weightlessness for a few moments.

My two friends never put their seatbelts on, and I could only watch as Victor was thrusted forwards. Without a seatbelt to block his acceleration, his body was catapulted out of the shattered windshield. His head impacted with the hard wood of the tree, and I heard a loud crack as this happened. Shortly after his head connected with the blue spruce, his body became a ragdoll and tumbled for ten feet until it hit another tree, causing Victor to come to a dead stop.

I observed that Josh wasn't so lucky either. His body was still inside of the truck, but glass shards were poking out of his skin and blood was pouring down his face. His head rested on the horn of the truck and I could see the pure terror displayed on his gruesome, battered expression. Josh's eyes were wide open and his mouth was gaping as if he were screaming, but everything was silent. Tears of blood dripped out of his eyes and even more blood was seeping out of his chest, staining the white shirt that he was wearing with liters of his own blood.

While all of this was happening, a sharp pain made itself apparent in my left arm, and I was thrust forwards, hitting my head on the back of Victor's seat. Surprisingly, the strike on my head was relatively light, as the seatbelt had slowed down my momentum tremendously. When I tried to move my arm, I was met with immense pain. I slowly turned my gaze down to my arm and saw that a shard of glass was sticking out of my bicep. Reaching over to the glass that was jutting out of my arm, I pulled it out, and saw that it had just narrowly avoided an artery. Even though none of my arteries were struck by the glass, blood pumped out of my wound, and began to trail down the length of my limb.

Almost instantly, my survival instincts kicked in. I took off my t-shirt, wrapped the clothing around my wound, and held it there for a small amount of time. After that, I leaned to my left, and grabbed my backpack with my left hand, I pulled it to my side, and opened the front zipper. A polyester rope that I usually used for climbing laid there. I took it out of my backpack, and set it to my side, where I leaned down to grab the sharp shard of glass that had been lodged in my bicep. Without hesitation, I started to cut at the polyester rope, until I had a single 24 inch piece of rope. I quickly tied the rope around my bicep, keeping my t-shirt in place.

After I was done with making myself a temporary bandage, I grabbed my phone, which had been miraculously unscathed, and dialed 911. It took a moment to connect me to an operator, but once it did, I didn't even give them time to speak. "I've… I've been in a car crash on US-36... I think we're three miles… Out from Boulder... I need an emergency… An emergency team out here… As soon as possible..."

The operator on the other end of my call was silent for a few moments. "Sir, I need you to keep calm. Can you describe the crash for me?"

"We hit a tree at a high speed... The windshield shattered... I'm pretty sure my two friends are dead... One of them flew out of a shattered windshield... The other… The other is covered… Completely… Completely covered in glass," I urgently spoke.

"Okay sir, do you have any injuries?"

I looked down at my right arm, which I had patched up well enough. Blood was only starting to seep through my t-shirt as well. "Yeah... A shard of glass… Was in my bicep… I patched it up... I don't think it hit any arteries... But… But it hurts like all hell..."

Another pause came from the line. "Alright, a medical team will be at your location shortly."

"Just, hurry," I pleaded, resting my head against the shattered window to my right. I hung up with the operator and my phone slipped out of my hands, impacting the flooring of the truck. I weakly picked my phone back up, then pocketed it. Moments were passing by, which soon turned into minutes. Until I heard the distant noise of sirens approaching and the whirr of what sounded like a helicopter.

I looked over to Josh's bloodied body and slightly scooted over to my right. Outstretching my arm towards my friend's face, I put two of my fingers onto both of his open eyelids. I painstakingly closed Josh's eyes, to where he was finally at rest. After that, I let my arm drop down. His mouth was still open, and blood was steadily pumping out of his body. There wasn't a doubt about it, Josh was dead.

Before I knew it, I saw medical personnel outside of the truck. Suddenly, the door opened, so I reacted as quickly as I could at the time. I jerked myself away from the opening door of the totaled Ford F150. A hand was lightly put onto my right shoulder, causing me to respond by hazily looking over to the person to my right. There stood a man dressed in the uniform of a paramedic, but as soon as my eyes were able to focus, I saw the rapidly spinning blades of a Bell 206 several meters away. The hand on my right shoulder squeezed it softly, then I heard a man's voice. "He's still alive, but he's bleeding profusely," the paramedic shouted, taking a long look at me.

Two other paramedics pushing a stretcher approached the truck. The man that was holding onto my shoulder backed away, pulling a radio off of his belt. I felt two sets of hands grab me by my arms and legs, putting me on the stretcher. A bright light shined into my eyes, forcing me to close them. Though I tried to fight the unconsciousness that would soon engulf me from blood loss, it was futile. The last thing that I saw before I slipped into an unconscious state was the outline of the Bell-206's blades.

[-][-][][][-][-]

 _That's basically it, Lyna. The most defining moment of my life so far._

 _"_ _Kyle…"_

 _It's over now. There's nothing that I could have done about it. I guess that it was my fault for being not being careful enough._

 _"_ _Kyle."_

 _That very event lead to me flying into the Bermuda Triangle, being transported into the future with all of these upgrades in my body, then meeting you._

 _"_ _Kyle! Don't blame yourself for something that you can't control. Yes, there wasn't anything you could have done to save Josh or Victor, but you weren't the cause of their deaths."_

 _Lyna, that's where you're wrong. I could have prevented their deaths from occurring. I could have saved their lives if I wasn't so careless with that can of soda._

 _"_ _You know, if you saved them, you would still be on Earth. You wouldn't be here, saving trillions upon trillions of lives. I know this sounds bad, but would you rather be stuck on a planet that you couldn't escape from with two friends? Or would you rather be here, with me, saving the galaxy?"_

 _Honestly, I don't know, Lyna. I wouldn't have wanted my friends to die like that, but fate drove me here. Some days I wonder what would have happened if I just stayed back on Earth, but that's not the case anymore. I'm here, traveling to uncharted space where an incredibly advanced species lives. I'd enjoy the company of Josh and Victor, but I know that their spirits are by my side. If you asked me the same question when I was back on Earth, I'd say that I'd give everything up to go on this journey. In fact, that's exactly what I did._

 _"_ _Without you here, Kyle, I'd still be training to become an Asari Commando. Every species in the galaxy would be doomed if you weren't here. We would all be tricked into using the Crucible. Besides, you united the Quarians and Geth, now we're going on to find the Inusannon and the Inusynthetics. None of this would be possible had it not been for you."_

 _You and I both know that's not true, it wasn't just me that did all of this. Sure, I started all of this, but everyone has helped along the way. Had it not been for you, Samara, Vodnik, Xen, Ithera, or Sirius, I probably would have been stuck in Citadel space pleading for the Council to believe the threat of the Reapers. If it wasn't for everyone who I've met so far… Things would be very different._

 _"_ _I'm sure of it. I don't mean to press on you, especially after what you just showed me, but is there anything else that you want to tell me?"_

 _Anything else? You mean of my history, Humanity's history, or just my personal life?_

 _"_ _I wish that I could discover more about you and your species. At this point, I know more about URG politics than I do about you."_

 _Well, it'd be better if we were out of the meld if you wanted to discuss the history of Humanity as a whole. Alternatively, we could stay in the meld and talk about what I experienced in my life._

 _"_ _I'd rather stay in the meld for now. I enjoy being in this state, our two minds linked to one another."_

 _The connection between you and I right now is an interesting experience, to say the least. I can't exactly describe it, even if I was ordered to. I do want to move on, though. Ask me what you seek to be answered._

 _"_ _Why exactly did you resort to flying into this 'Bermuda Triangle' in the first place?"_

 _Other than the deaths of Josh and Victor, I wanted to know what was behind the unknown. I had been fascinated with the Bermuda Triangle ever since I was young, and what happened on April 31st, 2014 only drove me further to my conclusion of flying into the Bermuda Triangle. Since I was able to fly a single-propeller plane, such as the Cessna-172 Skyhawk, I knew that I had enough experience to fly into the Bermuda Triangle alone. Once I took a flight to Miami, I drove to a secondary international airport, where I had already rented out a Skyhawk. The rest of it, you already know._

 _"_ _Okay, back on Earth, what did you do for a living?"_

 _I wasn't making a living, really. I was surviving off of money that I obtained from the conservatorships of my dead grandparents._

 _"_ _Okay, moving off of that subject and onto you as a whole. What languages do you know?"_

 _English, which was one of the main languages spoken on Earth. I know a small bit of Russian, which only had around a hundred million speakers worldwide. As for my translator, it knows most of the languages in the galaxy._

 _"_ _So your translator manipulates what you say, then transmits it in whatever language you desire?"_

 _I believe so, yes. I haven't exactly received the full specifications on it, but it has worked so far._

 _"_ _What other implants do you have in your body?"_

 _Honestly, I don't even know at this point. Supposedly a lot of stuff that extends my lifespan by hundreds of years. Sirius would be able to explain that better._

 _"_ _What was Humanity's average lifespan back in 2014?"_

 _We lived until we were 70 or 80 years old. Some people got lucky and lived until they were in their hundreds._

 _"_ _I believe that's all the personal questions that I can ask at the moment. As enjoyable as this was, we should end the meld now."_

 _Alright, end it when you wish, Lyna._

I opened my eyes for the first time in what seemed like forever. A dark blue biotic field was casting itself over my body, sending tingles down my spine. Lyna's arms were wrapped around my waist, instead of her hands being intertwined with my own. I turned my gaze down to my right shoulder, where Lyna's head was resting. Slowly, I wrapped my arms around Lyna's waist, blinking a few times at the situation that I was now in. I took a few moments to breathe in, exhaling shortly afterwards. Blinking a few times, I lightly patted Lyna's back in an attempt to grab her attention. Surprisingly, I received no answer from the Asari. I could see a faint smile spread across her face, but other than that, her eyes were shut. Before I could tap Lyna's back again, her eyes fluttered awake, staring up at me after a few seconds had passed. "That was a nice experience, Kyle. We should meld more often, much more often," Lyna whispered in a hushed tone.

"I agree, but I could do without the occasional reminder of what happened 80-90 years ago," I slowly replied, pulling myself out of the embrace that Lyna and I were in.

"I still want to know more about Humanity, Kyle. I'm not going to wait half of a century to find out either."

Sighing, I rolled my eyes and leaned back onto the bed. I used my elbows to prop myself up, so I was still gazing into Lyna's eyes. "Well then. I'm not the person to ask about that. I didn't research much of Humanity's history, or pay attention in my history classes for that matter. At this point, I'm sure that Sirius would provide a better explanation than I would."

"You have got to know at least a few things about your own species. You must remember some of their history. Allow me to put this into perspective for you. Here I am, at 366, and I still remember most of the history of the Asari. You're in your 40s now, right?" Lyna inquired, raising an eyebrow at me, as if she was waiting for an answer. I nodded my head, allowing Lyna to continue without any sort of interruption. "An Asari would still remember many aspects of her childhood. With all of your cybernetics and even Sirius, you can probably recall what your teachers told you when you were in a school of some kind. If they even had schools on Earth, that is," Lyna quickly spoke, insisting that my augmentations had somehow expanded my memory capacity.

"Well, here's a little fact about Humanity, we don't have exactly have the best memories. Besides, I don't think it's possible to remember something that I wasn't paying any attention to. Though, some people have a brain that can remember every detail of where they have been, what they have experienced. Other Humans have trouble remembering where they left their water bottle, or people who they have met years ago. Most of us are in between the two, and I'm one of those. I don't have the best memory for a Human, but neither do I have the worst," I calmly stated, leaning farther back on the bed, to where my back was finally touching the mattress. My legs were still hanging off of Lyna's bed, and the Asari was sitting up, glancing down at me occasionally.

"It must have been improved with the addition of your implants. Your memories must have been refined by the people that forced all of these augmentations into your body," she softly spoke.

Lyna turned her head towards a wall in her quarters. It was decorated with a few badges here and there. A rifle had been hung up by two metal rods sticking out of the wall, but something about it seemed off to me. The rifle was longer than the Inusynthetic Long Rifle that I had obtained from the bunker on Aite, and the design was unlike anything that I had seen before. It was quite glossy, and had a design that mimicked the design of an M-98 Widow. However, while it had some of the same aspects that the M-98 Widow sported, it was still quite different, as the length of the weapon was curvier. A triangular scope was placed on top of the weapon, some sort of silver material was jutting out of the sides of the rifle, mostly along the barrel. The edges were colored cream white, but the majority of the weapon was silver. "You know, with all of what you're saying about how I should remember every aspect of my life. Not only that, but all of the events that happened throughout Humanity's history. How about you tell me some of your stories as well? I'm still in the dark in regard to a lot of this galaxy's history." I calmly stated with a smirk on my face.

She raised one of her brows in confusion. "What are you in the dark about? I thought you knew the past, the present, and the future that this universe holds."

"I do not know as much as you may think. I'll tell you some of the topics that I know about: A fraction of what happened during the Rachni Wars, the Krogan Rebellions, and the discovery of the Citadel. However, I am aware of many things that may or may not occur past the year of 2157. I may have a little knowledge here and there, but I wasn't born into this universe. I merely saw what it was through the eyes of a Human Commander in a simple video game, a work of fiction," I quietly responded to Lyna.

"What may have been fiction in your universe is a reality in this one. I suppose that you may not see it as that, but I promise you, this universe is very real," Lyna honestly assured me, even though I didn't need it. She scooted over to the edge of the bed and touched her feet to the ground, resting both of her hands behind her. She meekly turned her head towards me, blinking a few times before looking back up to the odd-looking rifle.

I followed Lyna's gaze, resting my eyes on the weapon before me. Exhaling, I pushed myself up from where I was laying on the comfortable mattress of Lyna's bed. "I am aware of that, Lyna, but what I am not aware of is our future, or even the galaxy's future. I no longer know exactly what will happen, due to the URG being formed, our discoveries at the Latem-Tarik research facility on Aite, and now the hunt for the Inusannon. Our future is now clouded in uncertainty, and I can't guarantee what will happen."

The Asari nodded her head, pushing herself up from the bedding shortly afterwards. She strode over to the wall where the mysterious rifle was placed on display and reached up towards the weapon, eventually grasping the stock and the grip of the weapon. With a grunt, she hoisted it off of its display and set it on a metal desk. She glanced back towards me, slowly closing her eyes. "Come here," she quietly whispered, motioning for me to step forwards.

I took a moment to stand myself up, resting a hand on the mattress as I got a better view of the weapon. The serial number of the ancient firearm was engraved across the stock. A name was positioned right below the serial number, which read out as 'SC Thanatos. I slowly stepped forwards, coming up to Lyna's left and resting my hand on her shoulder. "Lyna?" I asked, clearly confused with the current situation.

"Tell me, Kyle. Have you ever seen this weapon before?" Lyna inquired, looking at me for a couple of seconds before averting her gaze back to the rifle.

"No. I have never seen something like that before in my life," I replied, staring down at the gun, absorbing every detail that I had missed before. Two blades jutted out from the bottom of the Thanatos, both blades were attached to the rifle by what seemed to be bayonet slots.

Lyna reached over to the handle of one of the blades. She slid it out of where it was attached to the SC Thanatos. "What you see before you is a very old rifle made by the Serrice Council. It was made before my people even discovered the means of space travel, when we were still waging war against one another. Specifically during the Battle of Peprameno, 3584 BCE, the SC Thanatos was created, in an attempt to strike fear into the opponents of the Serrice Council. During the Battle of Peprameno, tens of millions of Asari died. Our leaders didn't exactly get along back then. One wanted to discover what was inside the Temple of Athame, another wanted to keep it as a holy ground. The Matriarchs eventually decided to keep it as a holy ground after years of fighting one another."

"So you're saying that the weapon before me is five thousand years old?" I inquired, a perplexed expression rising onto my face. It wasn't just because of the age of the rifle, but that the Asari actually warred over a temple, one that had an actual Prothean artifact inside of it.

"Precisely," she replied. I could see a small smile growing upon her face, but it quickly turned into a frown. "It is an incredibly old rifle, but it certainly packs a punch. While it may not be the most advanced or powerful weapon in the galaxy, the Thanatos is able to rip through most armors that are below the IV class."

I glanced at Lyna for a second, my mouth wide open. "Okay, yeah. That's really good for a 5,000 year old firearm."

"Are you wondering why I'm telling you all of this, Kyle?"

I looked at Lyna, shrugging my shoulders as I did so. "Yeah. I'm definitely wondering. I'm also curious as to how you obtained this… 'Thanatos.'"

She flipped a switch on the side of the gun, activating all of the lights on it. A whine came out of the weapon and the barrel lit up with a dark purple. The stock of the SC Thanatos seemed to engulf itself in a thin Element Zero barrier. Lyna moved her fingers across the Thanatos' stock, pressing She sighed, taking her hands off of the weapon, moving her gaze towards me. "Well, you gave me some information on your past. I thought that I might as well share some of the history of the Asari, starting with one of the rarest rifles in the galaxy. As for how I got it, the Thanatos has been passed down through my family for many years. The exact name of who actually handled it in the Battle of Peprameno has been lost to time, but they were a relative of mine. I hope to use it in a fight someday."

I shook my head, continuing to stare at the rifle. "You'll have the chance to use it in battle if you have maintained it properly. Otherwise, I don't see it firing more than a blank shot."

"It is quite an old weapon, passed down from generation to generation. Each generation took very good care of this weapon. To my knowledge, a few of these weapons exist on Tuchanka, some owned by warlords. Others are lost to time."

"Switch the safety back on, Lyna. We can talk about this in the weeks to come, it's not like we're in a hurry or anything. Besides, I need to talk to Sirius soon," I said.

Lyna nodded her head. "Well then. I need to finish some things up with Aria. We'll continue this conversation later."

I patted Lyna on her shoulder, then slowly retreated out of the room.

 **A/N: That was a very hard chapter to write as compared to the previous ones. Honestly, the flashback scene was what really got to me. While the section of the flashback was mostly violent, I hope that it provided some input to the past of Terrah's life. I guess I was a bit late on sharing the backstory, but I also believe that it was a good decision for me to wait this long. To say the least, if I had done this in the first five chapters, the quality would not have been as good as it is now.**

 **Nonetheless, thanks for reading this chapter!**


	21. Chapter 21: Paranoia

Chapter 21:

Date: January 4th, 2095. Four days after melding with Lyna.

During the journey to the Inusannon system, I was becoming increasingly worried, for reasons that I couldn't even comprehend. I knew that Lyna had been worried as well, but we couldn't stop now, as we had already covered hundreds of light years. Little contact was made with the URG exploration fleet that were traveling alongside the _Bermuda_ , but there was very little need to. The only contact from those fleets that I received were from Daro'Xen vas Moreh.

From some of the messages that Daro'Xen had sent to me, I knew that the URG exploration vessels were performing quite well. Older vessels had a harder time switching between the EMDrive and the Vonya, but they were still functioning.

Meanwhile, Sirius was working on some of the _Bermuda_ 's systems. As an Inusynthetic, an advanced sort of Inusannon AI, Sirius was much more useful than any other sort of technology. On this trip to the Lidera Kop'ye cluster, where Sirius's creators were thought to be located, he was proving his worth as he had done many times before.

Date: January 8th, 2095.

Xen had sent me a few messages, some of them were just casual updates on the progression of the exploration fleet, however one message stood out to me. It was different from the others.

 _-Concerns About the Lidera Kop'ye Cluster-_

' _[I'll keep this as short as possible, Kyle,_

 _The Admirals and the Consensus have been worried about what exactly is located in the Lidera Kop'ye cluster. I got word from someone operating a signal station located on the surface of Rannoch that they continue to receive faint signals coming from the far reaches of the galaxy. These signals are coming from the sector that the Lidera Kop'ye cluster is located inside of. Most of these signals weren't able to be translated with the United Rannoch Government's current technology, but there were a few occasions where they were able to break down some transmissions from that region._

 _You will find the audio clips attached to this message. My father made sure that I also transfer the untranslatable audio clips to you, since he presumed that the AI that we met on Aite would be able to translate it. I recommend listening to these as soon as you can, they contain some very interesting information._

 _For now, I must get back to my captain. We need to speak after this._

 _Daro'Xen vas Moreh.]'_

I raised my brow at this, staring at my Nexus IV with a somewhat confused expression on my face. Below Xen's message, I was able to spot the audio files on my omni-tool's display. I swiped across one of the files, forcing it to play immediately.

[-]

"I've started the recording, ma'am," a highly synthetic voice spoke. It sounded similar to Sirius and Rigel, but with a pitch that wasn't as deep. The voice was presumably male, but I wasn't sure.

"I noticed. Sirius Veskalam-928A contacted us recently, saying that the Protheans have failed their task of defeating the Reapers. How unfortunate," another voice replied, having much more of an organic tone, but with traces of a synthetic speech following it.

"Yes, he stated that the Prothean Empire was over-run, and the locations of our caches had been corrupted by Rigel. The Protheans did their best against Harbinger and his pawns, but even they couldn't stop them."

"Kamen, transfer Sirius's report of the species that the Protheans were studying onto my databases. I believe they were called Asari, Quarian, Salarian, Hanar, Human, and Turian."

"If you don't mind me asking, Calevona, what do you need these reports for?"

"I wish to learn, Kamen. If they have enough potential, we may intervene during their cycle."

"Intervene? We're not ready!"

"We'll be ready. I'm already sending out orders for our fleets to expand to a tenth system. Trivon is over-populated, so we must divide the populations equally."

"We hardly have enough people to put up a fight against the Reapers again."

"No, we don't, not yet. But we do have 45,000 years until the next cycle begins, and that will be enough time to expand our population to where it makes the numbers of the Reapers look like a primitive army."

"The Reapers are hardly primitive, ma'am. To add onto that, I can't even count how many Reapers that were documented in our encounters with their forces."

"It was a comparison, Kamen. You are still young to this galaxy, and you have a lot to learn. Since you are a part of the Inusynthetics, you will learn quickly."

[-]

Suddenly, the audio clip cut out, just like that. I didn't know exactly what to think of it, a conversation between an Inusynthetic and an Inusannon. However, I moved on, swiping over the second clip after a few seconds had passed.

The Inusannon were an odd species, at least in my opinion. While I was closing my omni-tool, a secondary screen popped up next to the window that I was closing. I stared at it for a good few seconds, and noticed that it contained a file that was labeled with only two words, 'Final Offer.'

Without another thought, I clicked on the file, which immediately opened up another window. A large display of text was suddenly on my screen, and just like any other message, I started to read over the text.

 _-Final Offer-_

' _[Kyle Jonathan Terrah,_

 _As a fellow Human, I'm messaging you. No, this isn't Vodnik. I highly doubt that adrenaline-fueled barbarian could figure out how to use an omni-tool. Besides, he doesn't even have access to an Inusynthetic._

 _But I didn't contact you to speak badly about your slavic friend. Instead, I'd like to offer a proposal. You can accept this offer, like a sensible person would, or you can choose to spend the rest of your life in undeniable agony. I say this because the beginning of the cycle is nearing us, and you're on the wrong side of it all._

 _The Reapers are coming, and they are Humanity's savior. In your rotten and indoctrinated mind, you must think that you're doing the galaxy a favor by uniting the Geth and the Quarians to end the ascension cycle, but I assure you, what you're doing is a mistake. I have seen the full power of the Reapers, and now that I know what they are capable of, the only option for survival is to join them._

 _You better make the right decision, Terrah. Unless you want the weight of a trillion dead people on your shoulders._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Tiryn.]'_

I scoffed at the message and closed the tab quite quickly. I decided that I would analyze it with Sirius and Lyna at a later date.

Date: January 12th, 2095.

While I was reading over one of the many messages that Xen had sent me, Sirius connected to my thoughts.

' _Kyle, I hope you don't mind if I interject for a moment.'_

 _Well, it's not like I was reading up on an update from Xen, but go right ahead._

' _Do you remember that message you received from Tiryn a few days ago? If she is truly working with Rigel, then we have bigger problems than ever before. In case you were wondering why I've only just brought this up now, I didn't exactly have the time to catch a break.'_

 _Okay? You and I both know that we can't do anything about it right now. Even if we started to plan for a retaliation, it would be futile. We can't exactly tell the United Rannoch Government that we have to turn around in the middle of our journey for an indoctrinated Human and her Corrupted Inusynthetic. Besides, once we meet with the Inusannon, we'll have a much easier time with our tasks._

' _My people will not immediately agree to help us, if they agree at all. They're a very isolated people. It may be years, or even decades before they agree to come out of hiding.'_

 _And if you're wrong? They must want revenge against the race that nearly pushed them to extinction. If the Reapers invaded right now, I'd be surprised if the Inusannon didn't decide to help the younger races out. Actually, I imagine that they'd want to fit the current cycle with their tech as soon as possible. The URG is the only government that has accessed the potential of Inusannon technology, and look at how far they've advanced in the last two decades._

' _You assume that they'd want to start revenge-fueled war with the Reapers. Terrah. I know my people better than you do. I'm certain that they will refuse to immediately send their fleets out to gift the galaxy with all of their wondrous tech. I can tell you that the Inusannon and their synthetic counterparts might send a few scouting vessels out. This is possible, but it's a stretch. All of this is just speculation.'_

 _Sirius. I know you didn't interrupt my reading just to talk about Tiryn and what the Inusannon may do when we find them. What did you really need from me?_

' _I was simply striking up a conversation, Kyle.'_

 _It really didn't sound like it, considering that you started off with that message that I received from Tiryn._

Suddenly, the connection was cut. I let out a long sigh, and I simply continued to scroll through the messages that I had been reading before.

Date: January 16th, 2095.

"You're just paranoid, Lyna," I spoke in a light tone. I was sitting on a fine leather sofa, with my ankle resting on top of my lower thigh. Lyna sat across from me, her palms were clasped together, and her fingers were intertwined. Her elbows were touching both of her knees, and the Asari's chin was lying upon her knuckles.

She blinked a few times, then shook her head from side to side, disagreeing with me for the fifth time today. "It's not paranoia, Kyle! I can't shake this feeling, no matter how hard I try. I don't know if it's the Protheans that we found on _The Wrath of Emperor Ikaali_ , the Quarians, or the Geth, but the United Rannoch Government is facing major corruption, and we are being kept in the dark from it all!" Lyna exclaimed in a frustrated tone. She shifted in her desk chair a small bit, and unclasped her hands. The Asari moved her fingers up to her temples, and lightly rubbed them.

I sighed, then pulled up my Nexus IV omni-tool. I tapped on the holographic screen, pulling up one of the emails that Xen had sent me earlier in the day. "Okay, if you think the URG is plotting to kill us all and take over the galaxy, let me read out an update that I received from our good friend, Daro'Xen vas Moreh," I paused, waiting for Lyna to respond. I moved my leg onto the ground, and stared at her blue face intensely.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go on and read it, I want to see your pitiful attempt at proving me wrong."

"That was rude," I meekly commented, rolling my eyes at the Asari. "Here it is: January 16th, 2095, 20th Update. ' _Hello Kyle, I understand that this may be an informal extranet message as compared to the last few that I have sent to you, but I just want to make this message as short as possible. If you remember the Inusannon DNA vial that you found in that facility back on Aite, some of the scientific branches of the URG began experimenting with it. They needed female Quarian DNA, which I happily provided for them back in 2077. To give you a refresher, Project Genesis, as the Protheans call it… Well, it was a success. Teval'Rithari nar Cevoli is a living organism. She was officially born, or rather completed in June of 2081. However, I received word from one of the leading Protheans, Delaki or Korlib, told me and Captain_ _Seehra'Valihal vas Moreh that Project Genesis must have more resources to insure the survival of the 'Inuquarian_ _.' They requested various cybernetic prototypes that the crew of the Moreh had been working on. It was an odd question that I couldn't exactly answer, and so the researchers working on the project decided to transfer Teval'Rithari onto the Moreh for the journey to the Lidera Kop'ye cluster. I'm assuming that they plan to obtain Inusannon technologies when we finally get to that system. Anyways, I don't have any more time to write the rest of this update. I apologize if I was vague. Sincerely, Daro'Xen vas Moreh.'_ "

Lyna stared at me blankly, an annoyed expression now present on her face. "Teval'Rithari, for some reason, that name just makes me feel uneasy. The full truth isn't being presented to us, not by Xen, and not by the Quarians," she spoke in a frustrated tone.

I gazed into Lyna's eyes and powered down my omni-tool. Leaning back on the cushions of the couch, I sighed. "Okay, tell me this, Lyna. What do you think the Council is keeping from us? Every species, every government, every single form of life in this galaxy has their secrets. The United Rannoch Government is no different. Sure, I helped the Migrant Fleet and the Consensus become allies, but that doesn't give them reason to tell us every single thing that they're doing. I know exactly what your people are hiding from the galaxy, and what the Salarians have done to the Krogan."

The Asari before me summoned her biotics with visible rage displayed on her face. "What in the name of Athame are you talking about?" Lyna slowly questioned, seething at the very thought that I had just put into her mind.

"Calm the hell down, Nithil. You're overreacting. I'm not attacking you, or the Asari Republics, I'm saying that we all have our secrets, and two of the top governments in the galaxy hold some that could destabilize the peace that is so sacred to our interstellar communities," I calmly responded, crossing my arms beneath my chest. I had used Lyna's middle name in an attempt to get her to calm down.

Lyna narrowed her eyes at me and let out a growl. "What do you suppose that my people are hiding from the rest of the galaxy? Tell me what your little conspiracy is, or I will take it upon myself to extract it from your mind," the Asari spoke in a threatening manner. Her voice was incredibly low pitched, and her biotics were glowing intensely, lighting up the dim room that we were in.

I stood up to my full height, being slightly taller than Lyna. I slit my eyes at her, and started a connection up with Sirius. It would take less than a second for me and my Inusynthetic to converse, I knew that much.

Lyna was now standing only a few centimeters away from me, the rage still present in her eyes. "Lay off with the threats, Lyna. If you really want to know what is being hidden from us all, I'll tell you when you calm the fuck down."

The Asari before me backed away. She whisked away her biotics, and then looked into my eyes. The rage wasn't gone, but at least I wasn't being threatened anymore. "Go on," Lyna angrily hissed.

"Alright, let's start it off with your people, the Asari are hiding a Prothean VI somewhere on Thessia. The Batarians own thousands, maybe even millions of slaves from various species and cultures. As for the Turians, Manae is one of the biggest mysteries of their hierarchy. For the Salarian Union, everyone knows that they're not the most innocent group out there. I'm not sure what the others have kept secret from the public, but I assure you, every government has its secrets, and some are darker than others."

She shook her head at me, retreating back towards her desk. Lyna pressed both of her palms down onto the metal desk where many kinds of papers, datapads, and reports were laying. She calmed down much more than I had expected, even from the shocking truth that had just exited my mouth. "Kyle. My people haven't kept any sort of technology secret from the galaxy, especially if that tech was made by the Protheans. Unless you can provide specific proof of this claim, I'm going to scratch it off as an accusation."

I stifled a laugh at Lyna, covering most of my face with one of my hands. "You still don't get it, do you? I dropped hints upon hints, but you didn't pick a single one up!" I loudly exclaimed. Lyna glared daggers at me, pursing her lips together, before making a motion with one of her hands for me to continue. "On Thessia, there is the Temple of Athame, correct?"

"Yes, what about it?" Lyna fumingly asked.

"Right, you're not going to believe me on this, but inside of the temple, there is a Prothean beacon. Wait, no," I paused, striding across the room with a small smirk on my expression. Turning back to Lyna, I had an even wider grin plastered on my face. She was still fuming with rage, gazing at me with her brows furrowed. "Forgive me for my mistake, Lyna, but it's not just in the temple itself, the beacon is hidden inside of the statue."

Lyna only became angrier with what I had said. She closed her eyes and shook her head from side to side. "You're right. I don't believe you. In fact, I think what you just said is complete varren-shit," she intimidatingly snarled, slowly walking towards me.

"Hear me out, Lyna. If we went to Thessia right now, I could prove everything to you. Unfortunately, we're on a search for an ancient species right now, so that task will have to wait a few years." I monotoned. I planned on keeping my ground for the time being.

"When I see it, I'll believe it. For now, I consider it to be completely and utterly false." Lyna hissed into my face. She was only a few inches away from me at this point.

I squinted my eyes at my Asari companion, only to sigh moments later. "To change the topic, let me ask you this, why do you care about what the URG is doing? Why do you place so much concern in the activities of our closest allies?"

"Our closest allies? Kyle, not even thirty years ago, the Geth were hostile and the URG didn't even exist. When you came here in 2076, all of that changed. You managed to convince the Geth and Quarians to make peace in less than a week. In doing so, you ended the exile of the Quarians, and the looming threat of the Geth. If you don't expect me to hold some sort of mistrust against the two races, then you are wrong. Perhaps in the future, these ideas will vacate my mind, but not today. Leave me alone, I need to think," Lyna quietly finished, waving towards the open door that called for my exit.

' _Don't agitate her anymore, just leave the Asari be.'_

I closed my eyes, then thought over what Sirius had suggested. Slowly backing away from the Asari before me, I turned around and walked straight to the bridge of the ship. I shook my head from side to side, and then put both of my palms onto the shoulders of the empty pilot's seat. "Why does she have to be so stubborn, Sirius? Why must she question every single thing that the URG does?"

' _Throughout her life, she learned that synthetics were only bad news, that they were always our enemies. She was taught that the Quarians made such a mistake, that they should live forever in exile. Now Lyna sees the two races working together, and she just can't accept that the peace achieved by the URG will last for long.'_

 _How do you know this, Sirius?_

' _I'm synthetic as well. I complete tasks at a much faster rate than an organic could ever hope to achieve. I've spent 20 years learning the behavior patterns of you and Ms. Rilac. From what I have observed, and from what I suspect of your close friend, she believes that the Quarians and Geth are bound to go to war again. Her mind operates in fear of synthetics such as myself or the Geth.'_

 _So what? Can't she see that they are our allies? That they trust us, and we should trust them?_

' _She is blind in that way, but I have to agree with her in some aspects. What you and I did with the alliance shouldn't have been so easy, but it happened anyways. When dealing with the URG, I suggest that you be cautious. You don't want to know what happened with the Inuquarian.'_

 _Okay, seriously, what is so special about the Inuquarian?_

' _It would be best to put a hold on this conversation until we're done with the Inusannon.'_

 _Then I will be waiting. You know that I don't like being kept in the dark, Sirius._

' _You're the most informed person outside of the URG. You're only being kept in the dark on a few things, and I promise you, the URG has good judgement in keeping those secrets from you, Lyna, and their own people.'_

 _How do you know all of this? I'm fully aware that you're an AI, but I'm not sure if you would actually attempt to break into a highly secure URG database in an attempt to see what they're hiding._

' _Did you forget that I have access to your omni-tool? When Daro'Xen sends you a 20-30 minute video or audio clip, I process the file before it even appears on your omni-tool. Before you freak out, I'm not leaving out anything important. In fact, I only trim long periods of pure silence. I hear everything before and after your clips.'_

 _You know, this information would have been nice to know when I first met you._

' _It would have been counter-productive. All of the messages that come through your omni-tool are seen by me first. I can't stop it, even if you wanted me to.'_

 _Okay, look. In the future, I want you to tell me when you do something like this. I'm not all too fond of someone looking through my messages, even if it is an automated process._

' _I'll just send an alert to your omni-tool, but I'll be editing before you even get the alert.'_

 _Right... Can you send me some documents to read over on the Inusannon before I rest?_

' _What sort of documents?'_

 _I don't know, like a general description on them or something?_

' _They're generally peaceful until someone attacks them. They don't discriminate against race, species, or anything else. Before you get all snappy with me, I only have documents on what happened before, and during the Reaper Wars.'_

 _A lot can change in 100,000 years. I need documents that can tell me how I can handle diplomatic situations with the Inusannon, because I imagine that what I am going to be experiencing in a couple of weeks will be much different from when I dealt with the Quarians. What you have is going to be some use to me, but I'm not sure how prepared I will be without current-date documents._

' _You will be talking to Inusynthetics as well.'_

 _I know that, but I just need to know how this will play out._

' _It will play out peacefully if you are peaceful. In the case that you are hostile, you will not survive.'_

 _What about the Quarians and the Geth? What will happen then?_

' _I trust that the United Rannoch Government will be able to handle things on their end. Other than that, I'm as clueless as you are in terms of what will happen. Even though I'm synthetic, that does not mean that I know everything, and it certainly doesn't mean that I can predict the future.'_

 _I'm not asking you to predict the future. I'm asking you for your input._

' _My input on the Geth and Quarians? They've been working well together, especially when developing new technologies for their people.'_

 _How about their military?_

' _They're formidable, but they couldn't afford to participate in a full-scale war, especially not against the Reapers. While the URG is comprised of both Geth and Quarians alike, some of the Quarians don't have enough experience in combat. The Geth would be the best suited for a military encounter, since they remember almost every encounter with their enemies. Similar to my people and my creators, the URG is making a grave mistake by relying heavily on their technology. In order to succeed in a war, you must have a large population. The Geth can reproduce quickly, since they are machines. I don't think I need to explain to you how Quarians reproduce. Even if you outclass your enemy in the field of tech, you will eventually fall.'_

 _From messages that I've received from Xen in the past, the Geth are producing more and more platforms every day. The Quarian population has also been steadily rising ever since their immune systems were somewhat bolstered by Geth suit-links._

' _Yes, one year ago, in 2094, the estimated Quarian population was around 38.2 million, whereas the Geth platforms had reached numbers up into the billions. In my opinion, the Quarians need to repopulate faster.'_

 _The Quarian population has increased by 21 million people over the last twenty years. That is a major improvement from what it was good to say the least. Could you estimate what the Quarian population would be by… Hmm, 2121?_

' _If I based this around how much time a similar species like the Turians take to reproduce… I think that the Quarian population would expand up to 85 million people. I am not entirely sure about how fast Quarians reproduce. I haven't exactly had the time or the motivation to research that.'_

 _Erm, okay then. Moving on, what could you tell me about the Inusynthetic Long Rifle? I haven't exactly reached the point where Lyna will allow me to train with that. As you well know, she only lets me train with the Phaeston IV._

' _Well, you already know what the ISYLR fires; a beam of magnetohydrodynamic energy hot enough to turn a person into ash.'_

 _Yes, I recall that time that you forced me to it shoot back on Illium. To say the least, I still don't approve of what you did back there. Nonetheless, I still don't know all of the details of it._

' _What, do you want me to give you a codex on every piece of technology that you find?'_

 _No, but I want something to read while we're en route to the Lidera Kop'ye cluster._

' _Very well, but be advised, the ISYLR was made to counter the attacks of the Thoi'han during the war for Eingana. It is quite different from what the Inusannon usually used.'_

[][-][]

ISYLR: _Inusynthetic Long Rifle_ : An ISYLR is a scoped rifle that fires a purple beam of magnetohydrodynamic energy. It is powered by an internal liquid-based battery that refuels itself overtime by collecting small particles of moisture out of the space around it. The ISYLR has a range of two kilometers before the beam loses its heat and dissolves. It is a highly powerful weapon, capable of dissolving most armor-types with a single well-placed shot. When used against element zero barriers, the beam generated by the battery will most likely blast through them, while losing half of its heat in the process. This weapon is only able to be fired once every fifteen seconds, due to the immense heat generated from the batteries inside of it. The velocity of the beam on average is 9,245.8 M/S, 20,682.2 MPH, or 33,284.8 KPH. In the case that the Inusynthetic Long Rifle fired before it ended its fifteen second cooldown, the temperatures produced from the internal batteries could leave its operator with severe burns and tissue damage. In some cases, the effects were observed to be fatal. The damage done to the operator of the ISYLR would vary based on how long it took to cool down, but it would still be unfavorable if it was fired every thirteen seconds as compared to the recommended fifteen seconds. The temperature of the magnetohydrodynamic beam has been recorded to reach up to 2200°C, or 4000°F, while the beam hits with a force of 454 tons of TNT. As for the ISYLR's origins, it was built by the Inusynthetics during the ISF's war with the Thoi'han.

C-ISYLR: _Corrupted Inusynthetic Long Rifle_ : The C-ISYLR is a much more destructive version of the ISYLR. While it still fires a magnetohydrodynamic beam, it is heavily upgraded with Reaper technology. In its first firing mode, instead of shooting a single beam, it shoots two with half of the power of the original ISYLR, hitting their targets with the power of 227 tons of TNT. There is only one Corrupted Inusynthetic Long Rifle that has been made in galactic history. It was first documented to be used when Rigel fell under the control of the Reapers during The Battle of Vozaan II. However, instead of completely vaporizing its target like a regular ISYLR does, it has two very specific modes. One being exactly the same to the ISYLR, and another that shows the true power of the Reapers. The secondary firing option makes sure that its subject can fight under the Reapers, instead of being totally vaporized like anything else that comes into contact with it. When the C-ISYLR is put into its secondary firing mode, it switches to a kinetic bullet of sorts. The bullets are each laced with 30mg doses of Poragurix, which is a paralyzing poison created by the Reapers. The targets could be unconscious for many hours or even days while the user decides what to do with their victim. If this weapon ever fell out of the hands of the Reapers, or the Corrupted Inusynthetic that was holding onto it, the results would be catastrophic for Reaper ground forces.

[][-][]

I sat back in my seat as I took in all of this new information. A weapon that I had in my possession, and a heavily modified one in the hands of a Corrupted Inusynthetic. One that was created by the Inusannon Federation, the other originating from the Reapers and Rigel. For the time being, I wouldn't dare to ask Sirius about Rigel, as I felt that I had taken up enough of his time.

 **A/N: For the wondering about Vodnik and Samara, they are still alive, and they will come back into play soon enough. It'll probably be a few chapters before the both of them are in the main story of ME: B, but they will return, that is certain.**


	22. Chapter 22: Incompetence

Chapter 22:

Four days later, January 20th, 2095.

"So you're saying that she escaped? How?" I asked, staring at the hologram of Daro'Xen before me. Lyna was standing to my right, with a stoic expression on her face.

Xen pressed her palm against her mask while sighing. "From what I'm getting from Myriad and the Geth Consensus, Ferryn'Artrem was able to escape from her cell on Rannoch by dislodging the toilet inside of her cell. She somehow got rid of the excrement pipes as well. After that, it is suspected that she exited the prison through one of the many maintenance shafts."

"Wasn't she supposed to be heavily monitored by at least five guards at all times?" Lyna inquired, crossing her hands under her chest. Her stoic expression was replaced by one of disbelief.

"Yes, Lyna Rilac. She was _supposed_ to be guarded at all times. However, some of our guards were apparently playing Quasar on their omni-tools while Ferryn was quote-unquote, 'sleeping.' However, they didn't hear her breaking out over the noise of maintenance work going on in the area, as well as their little game," Xen explained through clenched teeth.

I raised my eyebrows at Xen and opened my mouth to speak, but before any words came out, Lyna interrupted me. "The URG's guards should be trained more, especially when guarding a prisoner such as Ferryn."

Daro'Xen rolled her eyes at Lyna, turning her holographic head over to me. "As I was going to say, we have no way of locating her. She could already be leaving Rannoch, or hiding somewhere in the rocks. Ferryn is a master at her games. No one knows where she might be."

I stepped backwards, taken back by what Daro'Xen said. "So what will happen? She's clearly a threat. Do something about it."

"Kyle, Ferryn escaped many of hours ago. I suggested putting a tracking chip on her, yet my father insisted that she would never be able to escape. To put it in simple terms, we have no idea where she is," Xen monotoned, her voice barely above a whisper.

Lyna moved herself forwards, leaning at Xen threateningly. "Did it not occur to you that you could just block any ships exiting or entering the system? What about doing a planetary search?"

"I only just got these messages now, since the absolute idiots that were supposed to be guarding Ferryn didn't report for a few hours. She has probably already escaped by now. As for the planetary search, the Geth are reportedly doing scans of the area."

Closing my eyes, I sighed at the fact that the URG was able to lose such a high-value prisoner so easily. "Well this is just great. It wasn't like we didn't have enough to worry about, going into the Lidera Kop'ye cluster and all of that."

Xen's holographic display frowned and looked over to her right. "Hmph. As much as I'd love to continue this conversation, I need to attend to other matters, stay safe," she spoke, cutting her connection to the _Bermuda_ shortly afterwards.

Lyna turned her gaze to me for a moment. She sighed and put her fingers to her temples, lightly rubbing them. "I swear to the Goddess… The United Rannoch Government can't even handle their own prisoners anymore. They are so incompetent."

"To be fair, two admirals went with the exploration fleet. They didn't exactly leave Rannoch well-prepared," I retorted, shrugging my shoulders in the process.

"Except for the three other admirals, and the billions of Geth platforms."

I rolled my eyes at Lyna. "Yes, but as Xen said, Ferryn is a master at her games. She'll probably be able to evade forces for a long time."

A small sigh came out of Lyna's mouth as she looked away from me. "In all honesty, the farther away from civilization we get, the worse things become."

I slowly moved up to Lyna, putting my hand on her shoulder. "As bad as things can be, we need to look on the bright side every once in a while. While we may be far away from everyone else in the galaxy, we have time to talk to each other, instead of continuously training every day, or dealing with what Aria assigns us to do."

"First off we need to train every day, secondly, our days are numbered, Kyle. If everything goes as according to what you say, we have less than a century to convince the people of the galaxy that the Reapers are coming, and that they're not just some bullshit fairy tale! We're wasting our time on this search for a species that might be extinct. All the information that we have on them comes from documents that are hundreds of thousands of years old," Lyna growled and moved away from me, shaking her head from side to side.

"Lyna-" I tried to speak out.

"No Kyle! You don't get to say, 'Lyna stop over-reacting, stop doubting the United Rannoch Government.' Everything that's going on with the URG is too good to be true; it truly looks like something out of a children's book. You allied a waring species in less than a week, with only the help of your precious AI…" Lyna trailed off, staring in my general direction with her teeth bared.

Her fiery gaze was no longer on me, instead she was looking to my left, where a hologram of Sirius stood. He towered over the both of us by at least two feet. The holographic display that Sirius was controlling through my omni-tool merely stepped towards Lyna. "Asari, I ask that you calm down, for the good of all of us. If I must, I will give you the information that you seek, but do not act like a child to obtain it."

"I wasn't acting like a child," Lyna angrily stated.

"Not entirely, but I do understand your desperation. Our days are numbered in your eyes, but time is a delicate thing. We can't rush this sort of thing. Before we meet the Council, we must find the Inusannon. Unless you want a wave of panic to sweep out across Citadel space, we must wait."

Lyna raised one of her painted-on eyebrows. "What exactly are you talking about?"

Sirius's hologram moved forwards, placing a hand on the Asari's shoulder. "As Vodnik and Samara are making appearances across the galaxy, such as the killings of Varina T'Narkoti, a notorious Eclipse drug lord. There have even been reports of conflicts with a Turian named Nokius Erian, a nefarious serial killer operating on Irune. More and more people are beginning to look into humanity's existence as a whole. Both you and Vodnik haven't done too good of a job with hiding yourselves. I've seen various extranet articles popping up on sightings of a 'mysterious species.' If we stood on the Citadel now, people wouldn't know what to think. However, if we wait a few more years, give Samara and Vodnik more time, and gather more evidence on the Reapers, we'll be fully prepared to meet up with the Council."

"Don't we already have enough evidence? You convinced Aria T'Loak back in the late 2070s with that video clip of the Inusannon's war with the Reapers," Lyna spoke in a slightly calmer tone than before.

"That was enough to convince a crimelord. Don't get me wrong, she's smart, but she doesn't have the power to influence an entire portion of the galaxy. Aria has control of Omega, but the Council possesses so much more. They would judge that video much more harshly than Aria would," Sirius blankly stated.

A frown made itself present on Lyna's face as she moved to the side, shaking Sirius' holographic hand off of her shoulder. "What about all of those files that you gathered back on Aite? The Larim-Tatek facility that we recovered those Pythet drives from? Surely they must have contained some information on the Reapers."

"You mean Latem-Tarik. While my facility contained information on the Reaper threat, all of the files that I could find were either irrelevant text documents, or they had been corrupted."

"Corrupted? How exactly did they become corrupted?" Lyna inquired.

After a few seconds of silence, I finally butted into the conversation between Sirius and Lyna. "To my knowledge, the files could have been corrupted during my brief encounter with Rigel."

Lyna turned her gaze towards me, arching one of her eyebrows. "You're acting like I know who or what that is."

Sirius seemingly growled at my mentioning of Rigel. He closed his holographic eyes for a few moments before sighing. "I hate to bring this up now, but it seems that I have no other option. Rigel Tavekanal-1931O is an Inusynthetic just like I am. However, he differs from me quite a bit. I'm not talking about his personality or his abilities either. He is officially known as a Corrupt Inusynthetic, an Inusynthetic which was 'indoctrinated' by the Reapers. Compared to him, Ferryn'Artrem is a very small threat."

"If you believe that this 'Rigel' is a bigger threat than Ferryn'Artrem, then why hasn't he attacked us yet? Why haven't we gone after him?" she asked, folding her arms under her chest.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Rigel has actually contacted me once. During our exploration inside of the Latem-Tarik facility, I was separated from you for several minutes. During that time, I found the ISYLR, but Rigel also contacted me at that moment."

Lyna turned her attention towards me, slowly moving away from Sirius' hologram. She stopped her approach about five feet away from me. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? What did this… thing… say to you? "

"It wasn't something that I could just randomly bring up! Besides, he talked about a human female that was with him. From what I can recall, her name was Tiryn, or something along those lines. He tried to convince me to join the Reapers too."

Sirius' hologram nodded. "I haven't had contact with Tiryn, all I know about her is that she allied herself with Rigel. However, there was a message that Tiryn sent to Kyle's omni-tool"

I brought up my omni-tool, which had already been on due to Sirius displaying a hologram of himself. Opening up another window on my omni-tool's display, I tapped on my messages app, and pulled up a page of my extranet messages. "That's right, I did receive an email from Tiryn a few days ago," I trailed off, swiping through a few emails that I received from the URA. Eventually, I found the email that was titled 'Final Offer.' I continued speaking, "She tried to make a deal with me, stating how I would be saved if I joined her and Rigel, and that I would live a life of eternal agony if I didn't accept her offer. Vodnik is also mentioned in the email, with Tiryn calling him a barbarian and a fool. To sum it up, what she sent me is just a bunch of bullshit coming from an indoctrinated mind."

"I hope you didn't reply to her," Lyna fearfully stated, uncrossing her arms from under her chest.

"Erm, I haven't replied to it yet," I murmured, scratching at the back of my neck lightly. "In all honesty, I was hoping to ignore it until we got back to Rannoch."

Sirius strayed to the other side of the communications room silently. He turned himself around when I finished speaking. "If Rigel behaves the same way that he did during my cycle, he won't attack until absolutely necessary. I can only assume that he's using Tiryn to find his physical body, which is a… Well, it's similar to a Geth platform in a sense. Rigel's physical body is incredibly advanced, capable of sporting synthetic biotics. Rigel could also be attempting to gather resources to give to the Reaper fleets upon their arrival into the galaxy. If the latter is true… Well, we're just going to have to counter it with the best that we have to offer."

I held up the palm of my hand in order to get Sirius to stop speaking while my eyes went wide. "Wait wait wait! Synthetic biotics? What do you mean?"

"Synthetic biotics are pretty self-explanatory. While this cycle relies on Element Zero, the Inusannon and the Inusynthetics relied on a more advanced sort of biotic system. In the middle of our war with the Reapers, we found ourselves to be fighting the Collectors of our time, the Ropisoen. We had studied the technologies of the Ropisoen, but relied much on our own development. However, one of the main things that we adapted from their technology was their ability to use biotics through the manipulation of antimatter. In short, our biotics can be shared with all forms of life by synthetically manipulating antimatter."

"Okay, but let's backtrack a bit. What is the best we have to offer? You speak like Rigel is an omnipotent being, like we could never defeat him, no matter our efforts," Lyna muttered, walking towards Sirius with her arms at her sides. "Vodnik and Samara are on their hunt for that Ardat-Yakshi. Neither Daro'Xen nor Ithera'Lyik are suited for combat. What if Rigel attacked now?"

"If he was pitted against us, we would perish," Sirius bleakly stated.

I shook my head. "I find that hard to believe. We have the ISYLR, that should be enough to at least destroy his 'physical body,' even if it is unethical to-"

Lyna suddenly put her hand up at me. "Kyle, if what you and Sirius have led me to believe is true, then we do not have an option to worry about what is right and what is wrong. The time that these Reapers invade our galaxy is approaching, though we don't know exactly when they will come, at least not anymore. It could be tomorrow, or it could be centuries from now. And if this 'Rigel' thing is as powerful as Sirius says he is, then we must reunite with Vodnik and Samara."

"You and I both know that they won't join us until they've found and killed the Ardat-Yakshi. Knowing how things went in my timeline, Samara successfully killed Morinth in 2185," I stated in a flat tone. "However, Samara didn't have the assistance of Vodnik in my timeline. She didn't have Sirius providing her with data either."

Sirius held his holographic hand up towards me. "I've provided Samara with all that I could scavenge from a quick search through the surface of the extranet. Believe me, searching through 9240 yottabytes of data is tasking, and I've only just scratched the surface of that."

"Erm, I thought you were created as an 'Inusannon AI.' Why aren't you able to browse through thousands of files in milliseconds?" Lyna queried. She pressed her palms onto a table, staring directly at Sirius with a serious expression on her face.

"Lyna, do you even know what a yottabyte is?" I inquired.

"I'd assume that it is a step up from a petabyte," she slowly responded, choosing her words carefully. Her tone indicated that she was unsure on what she was saying. Sirius glared at Lyna for several seconds, the whole room being masked in silence. Eventually, Lyna spoke again, her expression only containing annoyance. "Okay, you can tell me I'm wrong, just don't stare at me like an idiot because I don't know how bytes are correctly charted."

Sirius let out a long sigh. "One yottabyte roughly equals 1,000,000,000 petabytes. I can process terabytes of data per second at my maximum capacity. Even someone who isn't adept in mathematics could figure out that I have a lot of information to search through. Add that onto being tasked with handling the drive cores of this ship, piloting this ship, communicating with Kyle, managing Kyle's implants, managing Kyle's augmentations, and so much more… I don't exactly have the technological capacity that a Reaper does, so I can't exactly search through the extranet at the speed of light."

Even I was taken aback by what Sirius stated. The sheer size of the extranet dwarfed the internet back on Earth. Lyna was in the same speechless state that I was in. Silence filled the room for a good thirty seconds before my Asari companion replied to Sirius' statement. "Uhh… That's… That's a bit big. I apologize for overestimating you."

"Big would be a tremendous understatement," I mumbled, feeling even smaller in such a large galaxy.

"Overestimation is far from an insult, at least when referring to someone's capabilities. I'm flattered that you would think of me so highly, but just like the organic races, I'm not perfect," Sirius stated with a small smirk.

I grinned slightly at Sirius. "You're closer to perfection than Lyna and I am, Sirius. You don't have the genetic imperfections that we do."

"No, I'm not. Not a single life form in this galaxy is perfect. Everything in existence has flaws, even synthetics. We can continue this pointless speculation another time if you two would wish. I believe there are more important things to do than standing around and talking about petabytes and genetics," Sirius flatly spoke. His hologram flickered for a moment and disappeared into my omni-tool moments later.

Lyna slowly turned her head towards me and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, that was certainly informative. Mildly frightening, but informative."

I chuckled at her comment, while a grin made itself present on my expression. I slowly approached Lyna, moving just to her right, and positioning myself next to her. "Yeah, I'll agree with you on that," I said in a calm tone.

My Asari companion smiled back at me. She placed her hand onto my shoulder, lightly squeezing at it. "I certainly didn't get all of the questions in that I wanted to ask about Rigel, but I suppose that conversation can come later."

"Mhmm… Say, do you know anyone that could help us with Vodnik and Samara's hunt for Morinth later on?" I inquired, glancing over at Lyna.

She paused for a moment, then shook her head moments later. "My sister would probably be up for the job, if she hadn't begun a decade-long tour of the galaxy alongside some Krogan. I'm not sure who else would be willing to help us hunt down an Ardat-Yakshi."

"So you don't know anyone that would be available to help us?"

Lyna shrugged her shoulders, glancing back over to me and holding my gaze for a few seconds. "I've basically been out of contact with my mother and everyone else in Citadel space for twenty years. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I still have a contact out there that would just love to assist a Justicar with her tasks of finding and killing Morinth, but then again, I've had little contact with anyone since I met you."

I slowly nodded my head and moved away from Lyna, finally parting myself from her grasp. While walking towards the door, I peered at Lyna through the corner of my eye. "I'll talk to you later, Lyna," I calmly said as I walked out of the room.

"Yeah, talk to you in a bit," Lyna quietly replied before the door shut behind me.

Four days later, January 24th, 2095.

' _It seems my estimations were wrong, Kyle. We won't be arriving in the middle of February, we'll be entering the region of Lidera Kop'ye within one week. Apparently that EMDrive is much more powerful than I had initially anticipated.'_

 _Good, that means less sitting around._

' _It's not necessarily the best thing. I planned to stop the URG's exploration fleet before we entered Lidera Kop'ye.'_

 _What makes you unable to do that now?_

' _I can still do it, but I'll just need to do it sooner than I originally planned. We'll be stopping right outside of Lidera Kop'ye in six days. Once we enter the four lightyear range, the sensors used by my people will tag every single ship in the URG exploration fleet, as well as us. If we go in there without a plan…'_

 _That would be a horrible mistake._

' _Indeed. The Inusannon wouldn't know. While we're not using any Reaper IFFs, they will see it as a potential threat. The last time the Inusannon experienced first contact with organics, it started a bloody war over Eingana.'_

 _So, alert the Admirals and the Geth Consensus._

' _Already done.'_

 _Good, thanks for that._ _It'd be a good idea to_ _tell Lyna about this, I wouldn't want her panicking._

' _I would tell her, but she seems to be sleeping at the moment. I'm not sure about you, but I'd rather not wake up a sleepy Asari.'_

 _Then tell her later. It's not nuclear science, Sirius. Just tell Lyna when she wakes up, I'm sure she'll be glad that you waited._

Sirius cut the connection and went back to what he was tasked to do. I was frankly annoyed with all that was happening around me. The fact that Rigel was lurking in the dark while Ferryn'Artrem had escaped from the prison that claimed to be the most secure installation on Rannoch was stressful, to say the least.

So many emotions were going through my mind. I didn't know exactly what to think, so I eventually decided to get some rest that would hopefully clear my thoughts.

[-]

" _Ohoh! What are you going to use her for, Human?"_

" _What does it matter to you, Draak? I'm buying her, that's all you need to know," I flatly replied, crossing my arms over my chest._

 _I stood before a freakishly large Krogan, who easily towered over me by at least a meter. I was in a sort of armor that I hadn't ever seen before. My armor was primarily silver, but had many purple shadings and lights on it. The chestpiece was fairly flat, with a few edges jutting out of my stomach area, while my arms and legs seemed to have a smoother, circular appearance. I glanced back, and saw that my ISYLR was placed on a magnetic clamp on my back._

 _The Krogan eventually rolled his eyes and let out a small chuckle. "It doesn't matter to me, but my suppliers will certainly wonder why a species more mysterious than the Collectors is wanting a very specific slave."_

" _As I said, I'm buying her. My uses for her shouldn't matter to you."_

 _He rolled his reptilian eyes, lightly bumping his fist against my chest. "There has to be some reason…" Draak muttered. He slowly formed a grin on his face as a slightly malicious expression spread across it. "Oh I get it! You're going to buy her for a little breeding ritual, eh?"_

" _No. That's not what she is going to be used for, Draak. Do we have a deal or not? I'm getting low on my patience here, and I don't exactly have all the time in the galaxy to sit here and talk."_

 _Draak shook his head from side to side and leaned forwards, getting right into my face. A small snarl came from his lips, and I could practically taste whatever 'food' that he ingested before our little meeting. "You come to this planet with 12,000,000 credits and a request to buy a slave that Uvenk has kept in his control for centuries…" Draak muttered, putting both of his hands on the table before us. "And you expect us to simply give her to you. Haha! You're in over your head, Terrah. We could kill you and take the credits off of your rotting body. In fact, I think that's a perfect idea!"_

 _In an instant, I found the barrel of a shotgun pressed against my head, and a small chuckle coming from the Krogan's mouth. Before the trigger could be pulled, I dove to my right. Time seemed to slow down for me as the shotgun went off, and I heard a small, muffled cracking sound, indicating that my shoulder pad had been blown off and my kinetic barrier collapsed. The shoulder piece was now a jutted piece of metal, instead of the armor that it once was. Behind me, there stood a burning hot spike, with a large chunk of my shoulder pad pinned to the wall. A sharp pain made itself apparent in my arm, indicating that it had been dislocated. Luckily, Sirius managed to divert some of my suit's power back into the kinetic barriers, which gave me enough time to take out my ISYLR and move behind cover before Draak could fire his spike thrower again. I tried to ignore the pain of my dislocated limb, popping it back into place with a suffering yell. At the very least, I was joyful that this Krogan was so slow. "Alright! I guess the easy way is out of the window!" I yelled out, my voice being muffled by the ping of another spike hitting my cover. Leaning slightly out of my cover to get a good luck at the Krogan, I poked my head out. A spike flew right past it, sticking itself into a nearby wall._

 _I moved back into my cover, and flipped off the safety of my ISYLR. A figure uncloaked to my left, which mimicked the body shape of a Quarian, yet for some reason, it had five-digit hands with elongated fingers. "Yes, I know I was supposed to stay cloaked, but I'm not going to sit around and watch you get your head nailed to a wall by one of those spikes," the figure transmitted to my radio in a feminine tone. She had a voice with multiple underlying tones, which had varying pitches and a synthetic undertone._

 _I looked up to the Quarian-like creature and nodded my head while yelling into my radio. "Well, I'm not complaining! Let's defeat this monster, find the slave, and get her out of this place!"_

" _Try to keep the body intact, I'd rather enjoy dissecting this… Beast of a Krogan," the Quarian chuckled, re-enabling her tactical cloak. I felt the wind come off of her body as she left the cover that was protecting the both of us from Draak. I took a deep breath, set my ISYLR to a low-wattage, and leaped out of my cover. A spike whisked right past my cheek, and I could practically feel the heat coming off of it. If I had been wearing a helmet, my head most likely would have been taken off._

 _I found luck to be on my side again, as a spike passed right past my now-mangled shoulder-blade. I dove to the left, trying to move as much as possible. Getting hit by a red-hot spike was not on my schedule today. Raising into a crouched position, I took aim at Draak with my ISYLR, but I didn't have the time to pull the trigger. I found myself being hit by a biotic warp, I knew that my shielding wouldn't hold up much longer. While shaking off the feeling of the warp, I felt the bodyweight of the Krogan plow into me._

 _I knew that my kinetic barriers wouldn't hold up against another blow after the Krogan had pressed me up against a wall with the barrel of the shotgun pressing up against my abdomen. "You should never have come here, Human. At least you will die knowing that your head will be the ornament on my tomkah!"_

 _As the Krogan finished yelling into my face, the Quarian uncloaked herself, jumped onto the Krogan's hump from behind, and stabbed Draak in one of his eyes. She twisted it around, causing blood to squirt everywhere, as a cause of this, Draak screamed out in pain. Right as that happened, I felt a spike bypass my kinetic barrier, and hit me directly in my gut._

 _Draak fell to the ground after the Quarian hilted her blade under his head plate. She yanked her blade up, and with it came the Krogan's plate, which clattered to the ground along with a Krogan that was crying in utter pain. The Quarian took an SMG off of her thigh. The SMG had Lavar-43 etched across its body. A green glow emitted from the sides of the weapon, and its design relied heavily on sharp edges. She shot the Krogan's now-exposed head, ending his suffering once and for all. It definitely wasn't made with mass effect technology. Instead, it seemed to rely on bullets, since I could clearly smell gunpowder in the air._

 _As that was occurring, blood began to seep out of my wound and I felt an extreme pain in my stomach as it was ruptured. The spike had completely blown through my armor, and pierced through my stomach and anything else that got in the way. I looked up to the Quarian, who was staring down at me with an empathetic expression. "Kyle, I'm sorry, but we both know your destiny. I hope that you can forgive me for this."_

 _She took a knee before me, and grabbed my wrist, removing the omni-tool that was on it. A moment later, she pressed her hand to my head, and I felt the space that Sirius inhabited slowly fade away. "J-just make it quick," I muttered, looking up at her._

 _The Quarian nodded, then aimed her weapon at my head. She slowly pulled the trigger, and a 7.62x25mm round blew through my skull._

[-]

 **A/N: I enjoyed writing this chapter, and it clocked in at just under 5000 words. It has been a fair bit of time since I have written a 'dream sequence,' so I hope I wasn't too rusty with it. In 2-3 chapters, a lot will be cleared up.**


	23. Chapter 23: Novayazemira System

**A/N: Delete.**

Chapter 23:

Date: January 31st, 2095, one week after my consultation with Sirius.

Two days ago, I had received confirmation from the United Rannoch Government exploration fleets that we would be stopping today. I felt uneasy, as I only had one day to talk with the Geth and Quarians about our plans for 'meeting' with the Inusannon, if they were even there.

Lyna was by my side, but had a stoic expression on her face. As the time of our exit from FTL grew near, I felt much more nervous than I had when I originally met with the Quarians.

Sure, I was dealing with a species that I had seen on video before, and I was pretty sure on how they acted, but meeting with the Inusannon? Arriving at their solar system without warning? I trusted what Sirius told me, that 'everything was going to be fine,' that 'I had no need to worry about anything, as long as we didn't come with hostile intentions.'

Nonetheless, I was on-edge and it was showing through my nervous demeanor. Lyna took notice of this and put a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it with her strong grip.

Before Lyna could utter a word of reassurance, Sirius disengaged the Inusannon Vonya FTL drive that we were using in sync with the URG exploration fleet. The _Bermuda_ dropped out of FTL moments before the others, giving Lyna and I a perfect view of the Quarian and Geth ships arriving just outside of Lidera Kop'ye.

I watched on as ship-by-ship they dropped out of FTL, each popping into existence after the other. Soon enough, the URG flagship appeared in the middle of every ship that was arriving. It was engineered by the Quarians, Geth, and Protheans, which made it one of the biggest and most powerful vessels in the galaxy.

As soon as every single ship of the sizable URG fleet arrived, Lyna turned away from the bridge while patting me on the back. "Sirius and I will start preparing the links for a ship-to-fleet broadcast."

"Got it. I'll contact Daro'Xen in the meantime," I replied, activating my omni-tool and moving to my contact list. When I found Xen, Lyna was already walking towards the communications room. I pressed my index finger down onto Daro'Xen's name in my contact list and waited for her to accept the vid-call. While waiting, I sat myself down in the pilot's seat, making myself comfortable for the time being.

As soon as Xen answered, I was greeted with a blank mask. "I'm glad that you called, Kyle. Apparently my father has decided to bring Teval'Rithari, the Inuquarian, along with us."

I raised my eyebrows at Daro's display on my omni-tool. "Why? Is that something that we should be worried about?"

"No, not exactly. However, she is only fourteen years old. That's not exactly what my people would consider mature. As for why, apparently Delaki and Korlib are concerned that she will die in a few years. Something to do with proper cybernetic treatment and uncontrollable genetic code. If you ask me, that's the consequence of creating a hybrid." Xen replied. She stood up from the position that she was sitting in, and moved alongside a Geth platform. It made a few clicking sounds at her, while gesturing to what I could only assume was an airlock. She turned her gaze to the Geth platform and simply nodded. "I got it, Nomanye. I'm simply talking to Kyle Terrah right now."

I stifled a laugh at the fact that Xen was cooperating so well with the Geth platform. "Alright, we can probably discuss the age of this Inuquarian later on. For now, I wanted to ask you something."

Xen nodded her head almost happily. "Go on, Terrah."

Leaning back into the pilot's seat, I adjusted myself to a comfortable spot once again. "How many of your people are going to be attending our little meeting?"

"From what I know, eight of our people will be meeting with you. One of the Protheans, Korlib, will also be joining us," Xen stated while walking through an airlock, still side by side with the Geth platform.

She turned left into a smaller corridor, and for a second, I could have sworn that I saw a shimmer of light move behind of Daro'Xen. I paused for a few moments, waiting to see if the shimmer of light would make itself apparent again. Xen looked down at her omni-tool, waiting for me to respond. Once I was sure that the shimmer of light was just a light glare of sorts, I continued my conversation with Daro. "Eight people? Isn't that a bit much for a small meeting discussing our plans to go into Lidera Kop'ye?"

"I, along with everyone else, was under the impression that we were boarding the _Bermuda_ to enter Lidera Kop'ye, and that our fleets would stay back until we established a safe connection with the Inusannon. I was not aware that you intended to do otherwise," Daro blankly said.

' _I approved their plan. This was the meaning of our stop. If we entered my people's getaway system with a fleet of 50 warships, they would have taken it as a hostile gesture and promptly would have vaporized each and every one of us until we were solar dust.'_

 _That would have been nice to know a few days ago._

' _It will not cause problems if we arrive with one ship. Don't fret, I know what I'm doing.'_

 _Why keep it a secret? Why not just tell me what you are doing? If we're going to continue to work together, I need to trust you._

' _You know now, don't you? Besides, you were a bit busy melding with Lyna in that time, discussing memories and that ancient rifle that she has up on her wall.'_

 _Erg. Fine, this time can be your only pass, but in the future, I want to know everything. Your plans, what you're doing, and everything else on the spectrum, okay?_

' _Understood. This will be the last time I keep stuff from you, Kyle Jonathan Terrah. You have my word.'_

 _Thanks, Sirius._

"Oh, very well. Should I tell Sirius to guide the _Bermuda_ over to your ships?" I inquired.

Xen shook her head in obvious disapproval. "No, we're coming to you via an envoy ship. I'm leaving the _Moreh_ right now. We'll be with you in about fifteen minutes."

"Sounds good. I'll talk to you in a bit."

Without another word from Xen, she closed our video-call. She was moodier than usual, and in fact, she was acting more like her 2185 self. I wasn't about to question it, since this whole expedition had us all on edge.

I had to admit, it certainly was a relief that I hadn't screwed up the timeline too much, at least not yet.

Eventually, I stood myself up from the pilot's seat and closed down my omni-tool. Before I left the bridge, I leaned down to one of the holographic displays and glided my hand over it. Nothing happened, as Sirius had blocked all organic access to the _Bermuda_ 's control systems for the voyage to the Inusannon system. Of course, Lyna had protested against it, but Sirius assured her that the systems would be returned to our control as soon as we started our return back to Rannoch.

' _You don't need to touch that. I've already disabled the weaponry systems.'_

 _I was just wondering what the damn thing did. No need to get so touchy. Besides, at some point, I'd like to learn how to fly this thing._

' _I think it would be better if you stuck to your current weapons training with Lyna, rather than going to another subject and deciding that you wish to be a pilot. Besides, you've had just under twenty years to investigate these buttons, right now is not the time to start.'_

 _Okay, you know what? Let's not bicker when we're less than a day away from meeting with your people. I'd rather go in with a calm mindset, instead of a nervous one._

' _Very well.'_

I sighed as soon as Sirius cut the connection, but I didn't have the time to dwell on that subject. I had a job to do, whether I liked it or not.

I made my way down to the communications room. As I entered it, I noticed that Lyna was setting up a few things alongside Sirius' hologram, which was currently bent over a table. Datapads were scattered across the length of the table, and an interactive omni-display, which could also be known as a hologram was displaying our location along with the supposed Inusannon location. Lyna glanced up at me, then beaconed me to walk over to her. "Kyle, I need to show you something if we have enough time."

"To my knowledge, we, have a few minutes, what's up?" I asked while walking over to the Asari. Gliding my hand over the table, I came to a stop right beside Lyna.

"Take a look at this," she ordered with a fair amount of sternness in her voice. Lyna handed me a datapad and gestured to the bottom right of the screen, where a picture of a large ship was located. Above the picture read out, 'Inusannon Federation: Zevokalon Class Cruiser - Revvokas II. Manufacture year: 30,495.'

I noted that the ship sported a powerful and imposing design, since forward-swept 'wings' were located near the middle of the cruiser. Its engines seemed to have somewhat of a purple coloration when they were activated. The hull of the Revvokas II had a dark grey hue, which was certainly made out of a metal of some sorts, but with a much more glossy appearance to it. While various 'fins' were jutting out of the rear sections of the vessel, they differed in color and material from the main body. They seemed to be made out of purple, electricity-conducting crystals. At the bow of the Zevokalon cruiser, there were three of the same crystals pointing out, all of which were located at the undersides of the vessel.

Various cannons were located along the cruiser's sides, but one of them rested directly on the bow, making up the tip of the ship. It was much bigger than the other cannons. Beside it was a paragraph that described the larger cannon, which read out as: " _ISF-Kozlov:_ _A superheated slug-thrower that is currently being used by many cruisers during our battles with the Reapers. While not as powerful as our current technology, it still packs quite a punch. At this time, the Kozlov is known for its 30 kiloton slugs, shot out of its barrel while burning at 5000C. These slugs can go up to a quarter of the speed of light. From our tests, it can melt through Reaper kinetic barriers and Reaper armor after four slugs have been fired at it. This was right before our best operative, Rigel Tavekanal-1931O was corrupted, as he helped us reverse-engineer Reaper magnetohydrodynamic cannons. These newer cannons could help us with defeating the Reapers in the wider aspect of our war, but I believe The Trivon Operation will be a much more effective way for our species to survive the harvest."_

I absorbed all of the information that I could before handing the datapad back to Lyna. "Alright, so this is one of their ships?" I asked, raising one of my eyebrows at her.

She nodded her head at me, softly setting the datapad down onto the table. "It's one of the ships that was made during the Inusannon's war with… Harbinger?" Lyna raised her brow at me for a few seconds. She glanced back up to Sirius for confirmation, who gave her a curt nod through his holographic appearance. She continued on, "According to the info that Sirius gave me, this thing is over a kilometer long, and it's just a cruiser. Now think about this, the data here dates back 100,000 years."

"First off, size isn't everything," I monotoned, tapping my fingers on the table in a slow, steady rhythm.

Lyna interrupted me before I could continue, "No no. That Zevokalon Cruiser, the Revvokas II, it's ancient, but from what I've been shown... The technology outclasses the Protheans in more ways than one. The Kozlov cannon was a fairly, it may have been the base for mass accelerator rounds. I know that the Protheans used some sort of Particle weaponry, which could have been derived from the magnetohydrodynamic cannons that saw widespread use within the Inusannon fleet-"

I interrupted Lyna, mostly to stop her rambling on about the technology. "Okay, okay. That's great and all, but we can wait to discuss this with the Geth and Quarians. Their admirals and diplomatic platforms will be arriving in just a few minutes, plus a Prothean and the Inuquarian hybrid known as Teval'Rithari."

"So, the URG is bringing a kid. A child onto our ship… For what, exactly?" Lyna inquired, glancing up from the datapad.

"From what Xen told me, the Protheans are concerned about her impending death. Apparently she needs immediate attention in order to save her life. In my opinion, I think it's just an excuse for Delaki to experiment with much more advanced 'toys' on her specimen."

"Pssh. If you told me that a few years ago, I would have said that you were full of varren-shit, but now? Now I'm not sure if that's an excuse or not." Lyna paused for a few seconds. She then pointed towards the airlock, that was just barely seen out of the comms room. "If time is truly of the essence, go on and wait by the airlock while Sirius and I finalize our preparations."

Backing away from the Asari, I quickly made my way out of the open door. Today would be hard for me, Lyna, and everyone else. No one would be an exception to the stress of meeting with a new, potentially hostile species. Over the last few weeks, she had been much more expressive with her emotions than usual. It was amusing seeing her like this; outside of her normally stoic personality.

Nonetheless, I arrived at the airlock that was positioned right at the middle of the _Bermuda_. From what I knew, an older Quarian vessel was currently breaking away from the URG's Anriis Flagship and it was cruising over to the _Bermuda._

It took a good five minutes or so for the vessel to bring itself alongside the _Bermuda._ Moments later, a small bump reverberated throughout the corridors, and a hissing sound echoed through the walls of the corvette. This noise confirmed that I was seconds away from meeting everyone that would be traveling into Lidera Kop'ye.

When Sirius opened the airlock, I was met with the gaze of Daro'Xen vas Moreh. Right as our eyes met, I was taken aback. I was speechless. Xen was without her mask, without anything protecting her immune system. She was still in her environmental suit, but her head-wear was missing.

Xen's face was fairly beautiful. Daro's skin was a pale grey. Her nose was small, and didn't have a lot of depth. Her lips were thin, sporting a lightish purple hue. Xen's eyes were slitted, yet slightly angled; her irises had a golden hue to them. Unlike the stock photo of Tali that I was able to see in Mass Effect 3, three separate forms of flesh went up onto her skull, each forming a small triangular shape. Hair, or a hair-like substance emerged from beneath the triangular flesh, covering much of her skull. This hair reached down to her shoulders, some even hitting her back. A storm of thoughts clouded my mind as I tried to make sense of the situation.

 _Oh fuck. Fuck. Is the ship clean? What the hell? Why would she do this? Wh-_

' _Kyle, relax. While you and Lyna were resting, I took it upon myself to run decontamination protocols throughout the ship. I've been doing it to every room as you've been walking around. The Bermuda is completely sterile at the moment. She'll be fine, unless you sneeze on her.'_

 _Do you- She'll be fine in a few generations with the Geth's help, not after twenty years of peace._

' _Well, just relax. I'm sure you can tell her to put it on.'_

Daro eventually broke me out of my trance after chuckling a bit. "Come on, Kyle. Don't pretend that you haven't seen a Quarian face-to-face before."

"Well, I saw Ferryn'Artrem's, but it was all bloody and she had just attacked me. Now I'm joyful to see one that isn't scarred beyond recognition," I blankly commented. I was still recovering from my mild panic attack.

"Oh really? Hmph. Perhaps after we meet the Inusannon, we'll have some time to catch up…" Xen trailed off with a small blush on her face. I heard footsteps in the airlock, and she turned her head around. In a moment, she looked back at me with a stoic expression. "We want to make a good impression for the Inusannon."

I shook my head while putting a hand onto Xen's shoulder. "Daro, put your mask on. A good impression isn't going to mean anything if you're sicker than a Varren."

Daro'Xen sighed for a few moments, then turned away from me. She took her mask off of her belt, and attached it to her main suit. "Fine, but I'm coming back with you on the return trip… If we even survive that."

I raised my eyebrow in confusion. Before I could reply, Kapo'Xen and Shala'Raan walked through the airlock. Thankfully, they were masked, unlike Xen who had already exposed herself to the open air. They were soon followed by three Geth platforms, two Protheans, and another Quarian-looking girl. The Geth platforms were made up of what looked like a Shock Trooper, a Hunter, and a Trooper, all of which were diplomatic platforms, as signified by their olive green and indigo colorations. I was thankful that many of the guests were armed, either with handguns, or rifles. As for the two Protheans, I could identify one as Delaki, but I couldn't quite identify the other one.

I blinked at the sudden appearance of the group and moved past Daro'Xen. "Hello everyone, it's a pleasure to have you all here for the final phase of our journey."

"Let's skip the pleasantries, what exactly has your AI- Sirius scrounged up on the Inusannon? I sincerely hope that we're not going in there blind," Delaki hummed in a soft tone.

I glanced towards the Prothean before moving closer to her. As I approached the taller woman, I started to speak. "We'll get into that once we're in the comms room."

Shala'Raan made a small snorting sound while walking towards me. "So, why not provide us with the information now? I believe we would avoid a lot of unanswered questions that way."

"I would, but my omni-tool doesn't exactly have the power to hold all of the information on the Inusannon. Besides, we're going to be using the EMDrive to enter the system as the Vonya cools down; we'll definitely have enough time to converse before arrive at Trivon," I flatly answered. "Just follow me, and we'll give you all the information you need."

I turned around, and started walking away from the group. Seconds later, I heard the sound of many footsteps behind me. Leading the group of representatives over to the communications room, I noticed that Xen was walking by my side. I wondered why she decided to stay beside me rather than join the group of her own people, but I didn't mind it.

The walk to the communications room was silent and relatively short. As I approached it, the door to the communications room opened and I found Lyna leaning over the table, where about a dozen of datapads were scattered out before her with many more were strewn across the rest of the table. She looked up to me as I entered the room alongside Daro'Xen and motioned for me to come up next to her.

I strode over to Lyna while Xen took her position on another side of the table. Just as I assumed the same stance as Lyna, everyone else flooded into the room. The Protheans and the smaller Quarian girl took their spots in the left portion of the room. Meanwhile, the Geth platforms stepped over to be right across from the Protheans. Finally, the Quarian admirals stood across from Lyna and me.

The smaller Quarian girl, who I assumed was Teval'Rithari, was only five feet tall (1.5m). Her digits weren't like that of any other Quarian, as they seemed to be about an inch (2.5cm) longer than anyone else. Not only did they extend farther, but there were also four digits on each hand. Her skin was light grey, and she looked quite sad whenever our eyes met. I took it as if she didn't want to be here; what kid would want to be on a diplomatic mission anyway?

As everyone settled in, my omni-tool was activated by Sirius and his projection formed right between Lyna and myself. He was standing at his full height of eight feet/four inches, and towered over everyone by at least two feet. To my understanding, he was projecting himself in this way so the others would be mildly acquainted with the appearance of the Inusannon. As the only one of Inusannon origin, he was the first to speak up. "First off, it's nice to have you all here today. We'll have up to two hours to converse before we reach the Novayazemira system. I've already warmed up the EMDrive, and we'll be transitioning to FTL in fifteen seconds. Your boarding vessel has already disconnected from the _Bermuda_ and is making its way back to the fleet as we speak."

Lyna nodded her head and deeply inhaled. "Sirius and I have compiled various files extracted from an Inusannon facility on Aite. We've extracted various codexes on the Inusannon, while they may be 100,000 years old, we know enough about-" Lyna paused as the EMDrive started to rev up, and then the entire ship jolted into in-system flight. The Asari recoiled a bit from the jump, then tilted her head from side to side. "Erg, that feeling never gets any easier..."

"What Lyna is trying to say is that the documents that I extracted from Latem-Tarik hold much of the intel that we could wish for in finding my creators," Sirius interrupted Lyna, and hovered his projected hands above the table. "Now, we know for sure that the Inusannon are hiding in Novayazemira."

"So the only question is if we'll be perceived as a threat," Kapo'Xen spoke up.

Sirius shook his head at the Admiral. "No, the _Bermuda_ is a single ship and it's definitely not outputting a Reaper signal. My creators will not fire on this vessel unless given a reason to do so, though that could transition onto the first subject- Technology."

The Geth Shock Trooper platform turned its head towards Sirius' hologram. "We are already aware of the technological capabilities of your creators. We have seen examples of this through the Vonya drives, the weaponry, and results of genetic engineering," the Geth motioned its arm over towards the smaller Quarian girl, who was surprisingly quiet. Her facial features displayed a depressed, solemn soul. "Unlike every other creator on this vessel, Teval'Rithari does not require an environmental suit to survive. Since she carries the strong genetic traits of Warrior-Tenojika Ve'Skardi, this is completely possible. The topic of their technological prowess is superfluous."

"Nomanye, know that our consensus has already conversed with Sirius. This is a misuse of our already limited time. Allow the creators to be debriefed." the Geth Hunter flatly stated.

Sirius held a cold stare with Nomanye, the Geth Shock Trooper. Eventually, he snapped his gaze away from the Shock Trooper, and hovered his hand over a datapad. A projection of a solar system appeared in the middle of the table. I noticed that the system sported binary stars, and seven planets orbited those stars.

"This is Novayazemira, the system that my creators scanned in the final days of our war with the Reapers… No indoctrinated individuals witnessed us doing this, as their taint hadn't extended to our few remaining fleets. It contained two habitable planets, Trivon and Prasodetol," Sirius explained, and extended one of his holographic arms out to one of the planets. He twisted his arm to the right, causing the projection to zoom in on the world. Cities took up much of the surface, and various stations orbited the planet. Each station sported an various sharp curves and edges, and . "What you see before you is the Inusannon escape world. The homeworld has been reduced to ruin; its name was Mertvyykamen. From an in-system scan we just recently did before spinning up our in-system drives, I detected various heat signatures radiating from around Trivon-"

"Are you seriously saying that you scanned them? They're probably mobilizing their fleets by now, thanks to your need to do a scan," the Prothean beside Delaki butted in, curling his lips in an angry fashion.

Delaki delivered a jab to the Prothean's shoulder, who winced when it made contact with his shoulder. "Korlib, don't be so brash. Sirius may be a machine, but he deserves our attention."

Korlib made eye-contact with Delaki and lowly growled. "Have you forgotten our encounters with the Zha'til, or the 'corrupted Inusynthetics?' This one could just be leading us to the Reapers to complete the genocide of the Prothean race."

"If I was corrupted, your race would already be extinct. I can assure you that I hate the Reapers just as much as you do, if not more. Now, if you would allow me to continue, that would be greatly appreciated," Sirius paused and looked directly at Korlib. The Prothean turned his head away and made a motion with one of his hands for Sirius to go on. "These heat signatures indicate that our journey hasn't been fruitless… We have found where the Inusannon live; we know that they are alive. However, be aware that the Inusannon most likely know that we're coming."

"Can you contact them? Let them know that we're not a threat?" Daro'Xen worriedly asked.

Sirius shook his head, "Unfortunately, no. I'm unable to establish a connection outside of your fleet, since the technology of my creators and this vessel are drastically different. As long as the Inusannon are not fired upon, we will be okay."

"You scanned them, you can't contact them, and now we're heading into their star system blind! In the names of the ancestors, we're all going to die," Shala'Raan cried out.

Daro'Xen strode over to Raan and patted her on the shoulder. "Calm down, Shala. Everyone will be okay. In fact, we'll be more than okay after we meet them. Just think about it, if the Inusannon share their tech with us, we'll become more powerful than all of the Council races combined, even more so if we bring the Inusannon out of hiding."

Raan turned her head to Xen, letting out a soft, worried sigh. "It's not about power, it's about survival. What if-"

"Don't dwell on what-ifs, Admiral. There's a high chance that the Inusannon will not fire upon us if we do not do the same to them," I assured her. "As Sirius has told me, the Inusannon and the Inusynthetics are both neutral species."

Sirius nodded, but without warning, his face contorted into one of absolute surprise. "An anomaly is blocking the _Bermuda_ 's path, standby while I attempt to divert our course." Sirius commanded in an assertive tone.

I was almost thrown to my feet as the _Bermuda_ exited its in-system flight abruptly. I looked from my left to my right, noticing that many of the datapads were strewn about the floor now. "Sirius, what the hell just happened?" I yelled at the Inusynthetic while rubbing my forehead. The room was dark with the only light source in the room coming from my omni-tool.

"Something disabled our engines, deactivating most of the Bermuda's systems in the process. We're floating, but the same 'something' is slowing us down. The _Bermuda_ is on emergency power and I'm working to regain control. I recommend that we head to the bridge," Sirius suggested with a slightly nervous tone trailing his usually monotone voice. His holographic projection was gone, and his voice was coming out of my flickering omni-tool.

I looked between Lyna and Daro'Xen and pointed at both of them. "Both of you, come with me. Everyone else, stay here until our power is restored," I ordered.

Without any hesitation, Lyna and Xen nodded. Both of them looked rather concerned. "Sirius, do you know what hit us, or rather what we hit?" Daro inquired.

"We're currently on emergency power. My sensors are scrambled; we'll know much more as soon as we're on the bridge."

I stormed out of the communications quarters with Xen and Lyna right behind me. A small creaking sound made its way throughout the _Bermuda_ 's halls, as if something was scraping up against the hull. Without Sirius' sensors, I didn't know if the sounds were a rock or another ship. Passing by the rack where my ISYLR and Phaeston were located, I entered the bridge. Instantly, I was greeted with the sight of a massive ship with various other vessels crowded around it, all of which were slowly approaching the _Bermuda_. It wasn't nose-to-nose with the Corvette, in fact, we were facing the hull of the large vessel. The _Bermuda_ couldn't have been more than a few kilometers away. "Goddess… That," Lyna stopped herself, as she was unable to comprehend what was before her. The largest ship of the fleet in front of us had massive cannons sticking out along what looked like wings. The vessel emitted a dark purple glow, and I noted that it had a silver, metalic hull.

' _They're hailing us, I'm rerouting the signal to one of the holographic displays before you.'_

 _Hold u-_

A surge of power echoed throughout the _Bermuda_ as the power slowly came back to life. The dim glow of the omni-displays in front of me flickered on first, then the ship's lights activated shortly afterwards. To top it all off, one of the consoles before me began to ping. I reached out and hovered my hand over the display, which transformed into some kind of screen. A figure appeared on the screen. Lyna, Xen, and I froze in fear at the sighting of the _thing_ on the display. I hastily noted that various tendril-like objects were attached to the middle of the creature's face, before connecting back down into the thing's chest. "Asari Republics Dystopia Class Corvette, _Bermuda_ , you are intruding on the territory of the Inusannon Federation, as well as using an out-of-date IFF system that dates back for hundreds of millennia. Explain your intentions, and why you had the gall to trespass in Lidera. If you fail to answer, a boarding party will breach your vessel."

 _Really, Sirius?_

 **A/N: Mass Effect Andromeda may or may not have interfered with the production of this chapter.**


	24. Chapter 24: Flagship

**A/N: Delete.**

Chapter 24:

Date: February 1st, 2095. A few minutes after initial contact.

Every bone in my body froze up with fear for a few seconds, and I slowly opened my mouth. A small, yet shaky breath slipped from my lips. "My name is Kyle Jonathan Terrah, and I've come to Lidera Kop'ye hoping to broker an alliance between the United Rannoch Government and the Inusannon… Federation?"

"Why do you want this alliance? Are you at war with one of the younger species?" The Inusannon asked.

 _Uh, Sirius, a little help here?_

' _I am currently attempting to converse with an Inusynthetic that is attempting to read the Bermuda's systems. Her attempts to breach the Bermuda's security systems are rather hard to counter. I need to focus on this. You deal with the organics, and I will deal with the synthetics.'_

 _Of course._

I shook my head and leaned closer to the display, right up until my face was fully lit up. "We're not fighting any-"

The Inusannon cut me off. "Then why come here? Why seek out the help of our Federation?"

"We're not fighting anyone or anything yet. In fact, we want to avoid war, but as the end of our cycle grows near, that may not be completely possible," I shot back.

Silence reigned from the other end of the line for about a minute before another voice spoke. This one was scratchier and rougher than the last, but it still had a feminine tone. "Tell me, Kyle Terrah," the Inusannon rolled the 'Rs' in my name. "Are you perhaps talking about the Corrupted Fleets, or as the Protheans knew them… The Reapers?"

"Yes, luckily our cycle has yet to face them. As far as I know, we have approximately ninety years until the Reapers invade, and with your help, we can defeat them conventionally."

The Inusannon that I was speaking to paused. "You may not be Prothean, but at least you took heed of our warnings," the Inusannon trailed off and swiped its hand over the screen. "I'm transferring you to Pervichalomar Kochinan Vez'da, as he has requested to speak with you. This will only take a moment," the Inusannon said. Just then, the screen flickered and flashed. I was greeted with the sight of another Inusannon, who looked much more threatening than the previous one. I could only assume that this was one of their leaders. Its eyes flickered in the dim lighting of its ship, but it was still easy enough to see that they stared into my own.

"Before we talk, I'll take the liberty of introducing myself. I already know you three, and all of the rest of the people on your corvette. In your language, I am known as Primary Admiral Kochinan Vez'da, the leader of the Inusannon Federation. From what I know, you are Kyle Terrah, a human that warped through dimensions, and somehow, has an expansive knowledge of this universe. Your two associates are Daro'Xen vas Moreh nar Epsio, a Quarian, and Lyna Nithil Rilac, an Asari. I'm impressed that you've made it this far without being drawn into indoctrination. While my ancestors have knew about you, I have actually had the pleasure of meeting one of our augmented species," the Primary Admiral spoke in a deep and raspy voice, with various synthetic undertones echoing his words.

I raised one of my eyebrows and scratched the back of my neck nervously. I looked back to Lyna and Daro, who seemed just as anxious as I was. "It's nice to meet you, Pervichalomar Vez'da. I hope that we didn't alarm you by intruding into Lidera Kop'ye."

Relief washed over my body as I saw Kochinan shake his head. "We were notified by the scan that Sirius did. This is the first time that a foreign species has arrived on our territory. Of course we were alarmed; and please, just call me Kochinan. It'd be hard for non-native species to even pronounce my name."

"What about completely disabling the _Bermuda_? We were on emergency power after we encountered your vessels; I'll be damned if we were hit by a gamma-ray burst," Daro'Xen sneered at the admiral.

Kochinan squinted his eyes at Xen, bringing his face slightly closer to the display. "We simply overloaded your ship's computer systems. It was a necessary precaution, so please, don't get snippy with me."

In order to sway the conversation away from the hostile course that it was venturing towards, I turned my back to the display and looked into Lyna's eyes. "Lyna, would you please ask the URG representatives to report to the bridge?"

She nodded and activated her omni-tool, "Would all of our… Guests… Please come up to the bridge?"

When I turned back to the display, Vez'da was holding up one of his hands. I noted that his fingers were fairly long and he had four digits on each hand. His mood had obviously shifted back to the seemingly friendly demeanor that he had sported earlier. "Let us meet in person, rather than speaking ship-to-ship. I feel that there will be less tension that way. Sirius will be guiding your ship into one of our secondary hangars soon enough, we'll continue our talk there."

With that, Vez'da shut off the connection. I stood there, frozen in silence at what had come out of the Inusannon's mouth.

 _Sirius?_

' _It's best if we follow their orders… Requests... Defying them will not bode well for us. Tell Lyna and Xen to arm up, then meet up with the guards at the airlock. You'll be talking to the representatives. On a note of good news, the AI that I was talking to a bit ago has since retreated back to its own server.'_

 _Why the hell do we need to be armed? Won't they see us as a hostile force?_

' _No. I'll tell you what to do, and I expect you to follow my orders. This is for the best. You should also get the ISYLR. This might be a very tense meeting.'_

I decided not to hesitate any longer, so I turned to Lyna and Daro. "Both of you, get some kind of weapon. Whatever suits your fancy. Once you're ready, go talk to the Quarian guards at the airlock."

Lyna held up her hand, her face crunching up into one of confusion. "Wait, I thought the Inu-"

"Go, now. Grab whatever you need," I hurriedly ordered. Lyna blinked a few times before she turned her back towards me and began to swiftly walk away. Daro'Xen followed suit moments later. I assumed that it would only take a few minutes for the _Bermuda_ to reach the Inusannon hangar bay, so I'd have a small window of time to debrief the URG representatives.

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that we were steadily approaching the Inusannon vessel. I didn't get the chance to look any longer as I heard a small, high pitched gasp come from the bridge. I turned my head towards the group of Quarian and Geth diplomats, who seemed to be rightfully astonished by the look of the massive Inusannon ship. "Keelah," one of the Quarians breathed out. The Geth platforms just stood there, probably conversing with each other within the consensus.

"Shake off the shock, because we'll be meeting with the Inusannon soon. The _Bermuda_ is going to dock inside of one of that ship's hangers. Don't make any sudden movements once we're aboard the vessel. Don't touch anything unless you're given permission to do so. Lyna, Daro'Xen, and your guards will be protecting you in case anything goes wrong, which I don't expect will happen. I'll also be armed with that Inusynthetic Long Rifle. We will be meeting with the Primary Admiral, or the Pervichalomar of the Inusannon Federation, Kochinan Vez'da," I told everyone. Just as I finished my sentence, I turned around and was greeted with the view of the Inusannon ship's hangar bay. I blinked a few times before glancing back to the group of representatives who were still silent from the view of the Inusannon ship. "Head towards the airlock. I'll be there once we've docked."

Surprisingly, everyone complied without a word. Many moments passed while I stared out of the _Bermuda_ 's windows as the hangar bay grew closer and closer. Shutting my eyes for just a few seconds, I took a deep breath and ventured across the bridge. I grabbed my ISYLR off of the weapon rack and slung its leather strap over my shoulder. Honestly I didn't know what I was expecting, since all I knew about the Inusannon were the 100,000 year old documents that Sirius contained and, well, Sirius for that matter, but I didn't come all the way out here to worry about what-ifs. I took a deep breath, clearing my mind of any negative feelings or thoughts. The interior gravity of the _Bermuda_ was starting to feel slightly heavier than before; it felt as if I was hiking up a hill whenever I walked, but I wasn't complaining. Throughout my twenty years in this galaxy, I had been on multiple planets with different atmospheres and different gravities, this was certainly not the worst.

I made my way over to the airlock as soon as I heard the familiar sound of the _Bermuda_ coming into dock. Right as I stopped in front of the airlock, it opened before me and everyone else. Being the leading figure in this situation, I was at the front of the 'pack,' with Lyna and Daro'Xen behind me. Kapo'Xen and Shala'Raan stood side by side, and everyone else followed the same pattern; groups of two with me at the front and the Geth Hunter back. I took a deep breath and readied myself for whatever was on the other side of the door. Before we could proceed, Lyna piped up, "Alright, whatever is on the other side of the airlock, whether it be soldiers, the Inusannon leader itself, or a bunch of scientists wanting to kill us and study our corpses, I suggest everyone here stay calm. Answer any questions that you're asked, don't speak unless you're spoken to. As for the Protheans and their little experiment, we'll try to find someone that can care for your problems, but right now I suggest shutting your mouths and following our lead."

I turned around for a second, staring at Lyna blankly. "That third part was morbid," I meekly commented, to which she shrugged her shoulders apathetically. She seemed to either be ready for anything, or just stopped caring for the time being.

' _I'm opening the airlock now, I sincerely hope you're ready.'_

 _Not entirely, but there's really nothing I can do about that._

Without another transmission from Sirius, the airlock opened and my group was greeted by what seemed to be three different species, each of them towering above me and everyone else for that matter. I took a step back as I gazed up at the one in the middle. By his appearance, I could tell that it was Kochinan Vez'da. However, unlike the statues that were located on Ilos, which had tubes pouring from their mouth into their chest, Kochinan had tendrils of some kind on his head, almost mimicking the shape of hair. These tendrils moved around for a few seconds until they connected onto something on his spine. He had what seemed to be cracked skin on his face, which extended from his jawline over to his lips. Inside of the cracks was a pulsating violet hue. Sometimes the light went dark, only to return to their 'normal' colors only a moment later, just as his irises did. I looked up and down his body, noting that he was wearing a form of clothing, colored in light grey with a hint of navy blue on the shoulders of it. From what I could tell, he stood at around nine feet (3 meters), dwarfing everyone else, even his own kind in comparison.

To Kochinan's left, there was a smaller female figure, or at least I thought it was female. Across her 'breastplate,' if one could even call it that, there were some letters in a language that I couldn't even read. Luckily, I had Sirius in my head, so he helpfully translated the characters out as, 'Khara Venatici-1471H.' She had similar facial cracks as Kochinan, but they ran across her head tendrils, which were in the same 'sockets' as Kochinan had on his back. Her skin color had a hint of olive-drab to it, just like Kochinan's, but was mostly a darker grey color. Metal was encrusted along her fingers, each with a bone-like structure surrounding it.

Meanwhile, at the far right of the group stood a completely different species. It wasn't Inusannon nor Inusynthetic, it was something else. Not even Sirius could figure out what it was. The species had feminine features, by human standards, it clearly was a woman. Bone cartilage of some sort stuck out from the woman's head, taking a shape that was similar to that of a bull, yet with a thicker base and less pointy tips. They pointed towards the floor behind her shoulders, seeming to have a bit of a twisted shape to them. As for the woman's ears, they were much like mine… External, yet they were slightly pointed at the tips. Her irises were fairly wide, with a scarlet sort of coloration in them. Her pupils could be described as being an oval shape instead of a completely round one. Across her face were 'scars' that mimicked a tribal pattern, each glowing bright orange. The rest of her body was comprised of flesh, and her skin color was lavender.

Eventually the silence was broken with Kochinan's booming voice. "We, the three leaders of the Inusannon Federation, welcome you to the _Tsetrurana_ , a Nevualtermisk-class flagship. To my left is Khara Venatici, a seventh-generation Inusynthetic, and to my right is Svesa Voz'avansiro, a Sannokar. I don't doubt that you're confused on Svesa's species, seeing as one of our own Inusynthetics, Sirius, led you to us. He probably told you all about our species from a hundred thousand years ago, but sadly, that doesn't include the Sannokar, or any of our advancements for that matter."

"We'll be updating you on the development of our federation over the last hundred millennia on the way to Teronyks, one of our many dyson spheres on the outreaches of Novayazemira," Svesa added onto Kochinan's statement. She had a deeper underlying pitch to her voice, with the deepest part of it being just a few decibels lower than her actual tone. "If any of our visitors would like to state anything before we move on, say it now."

Delaki separated from the group, and as soon as the Inusannon Federation, or ISF leaders caught sight of her, they were taken back a bit. Before, she must've just seemed like a plated head to them, which could have been anything in their eyes, but a living Prothean right in front of them? That must have been something else, as even Khara, the Inusynthetic, made a small gasping noise. "A Prothean? A real live Prothean? I...We thought you were all dead."

"Your little human experiment found my ship floating adrift in space. However, that's not why I stepped out of line. We have someone that needs medical attention, medical attention that our technology couldn't process or even treat for that matter. We've no idea what has made her sick," Delaki stated, pulling Teval out of the crowd by one of her arms. The Quarian without a suit made a small 'eep' noise, hanging her head as she coughed a few times. She was unbelievably pale, scars painting her exposed skin and her eyes were relatively empty. From what I could hear, her breathing was irregular and her cheeks could be described as being a lightish green. I caught a glimpse of the woman's bloodshot eyes, which also had a green appearance to them instead of red.

Khara nodded, walking over to the small Quarian, who she towered over quite easily. Gesturing towards Delaki, Korlib, and Teval, she led them down the hallway, and quickly out of sight.

Svesa and Kochinan were left after that, to which Svesa simply shrugged. "Alright, we're going to seperate this group up into two. The Quarian admirals will come with me, along with their guards. You three," Svesa pointed at me, Lyna, and Daro'Xen, "will be going with Kochinan."

I held one of my hands up to Svesa's order. "Why the hell are we separating? Shouldn't we stick together?"

"It's the best course of action, trust us," Kochinan tried to assure me as he started to walk away. Lyna followed him without any sort of protest. I turned my head over to Daro'Xen, to which she shrugged her shoulders and walked forward, following after Kochinan.

With me being the only one left, I had no other choice than to quickly follow behind Kochinan. Today was surely going to be a long day, or night. I honestly had no idea what time it was. Some time in the future, I really hoped people had a galactic sort of clock.

[-]

"Where are we going, Delaki?" Teval asked, her body trembling with fear. She was walking along a long hallway, with many odd tall people surrounding her. As per usual, her shoulder was being held by the female Prothean that commonly guided her along.

Feeling Delaki's strengthening grip on her shoulder informed the small Inuquarian of her place, while also serving as a way to stop her from talking. "Shush, child. Your sickness will be cured today if you keep silent."

Teval stayed silent as she walked along the halls, her rather short locks of hair bouncing behind her. She overheard Delaki's conversation with the tall robot woman, but only got tidbits of it at the time. Unfortunately, Teval was feeling like she could faint at any given time.

"You implanted her with implants from a hundred thousand years ago? What were you even thinking?" Khara asked, guiding the group around a corner, and therefore another large corridor.

Delaki squinted up at the Inusynthetic, who stared back down at the Prothean before her. "We had to keep her alive. Without that old tech, she wouldn't have survived past three months. After all, we constructed her from an Inusannon's and a Quarian's DNA. She's a hybrid, an Inuquarian."

"You kept her alive just for an experiment? As if your species didn't already disgust me," Khara synthetically growled, her brows furrowing at Delaki.

After a bit of back and forth banter, the group arrived at an open room with white walls and a black ceiling. In the middle of the room was an operating table, where various silver and violet items were laid upon it. A mirror was placed at the far left side of the room. Teval was guided onto the operating table, where she then laid down. Two more Inusannon entered the room. One an Inusynthetic that had the name-plate of Kamen-Grovoqal, and another that was named Avenali Wravn'kaleshnak. "We'll start by taking the old implants out and putting our latest ones in, Kamen. Give the girl an anesthetic injection right..." Avenali strode up to Teval, who was laying on the table completely still, she patted the back of Teval's neck, "here."

Without a word from the other, Teval was pricked with a two-inch-long needle, and her senses began to fade away. It was like she was dying, and she couldn't stop it. Teval outstretched one of her arms, thrashing it around for a few moments. Kamen, the Inusynthetic, had to forcefully hold the child still to prevent her from injuring herself. "Calm yourself, young organic. Your time of pain will be concluded soon." The synthetic comforted Teval. He looked down into her eyes while a bit of sympathy formed across his face.

"Alright, keep comforting the girl, Kamen. Teval, is that your name?" Avenali asked, glancing down to the Inuquarian for a few small seconds.

Teval shut her eyes, nodding at the Inusannon medical officer. "Yes… Yes ma'am…"

"Alright Teval, relax. You'll fall asleep soon. Everything will be at peace," the medical officer cooed. Teval faded out of consciousness soon afterwards, with Avenali's comforting smile being the last thing she saw…

Something was wrong. She was shivering, and a slight chill was running down her spine. Her entire torso was bandaged and her head felt as if it was throbbing. Bringing a hand up to her forehead, she lightly rubbed it, trying to relieve herself from her dreaded migraine. She coughed a few times, causing a light blue liquid to shoot out of her mouth; it tasted bitter, so she visibly recoiled from the taste alone. When she tried to push herself off of the table, she was met with soreness all over her body as soon as she stood up. Teval fell to her knees shortly afterwards, coughing up a bit more of the bitter blue fluid. Just as she thought that no one was about to help her, she heard footsteps, with a shadow soon glooming over her. Panting, she turned her head up to the figure, who she couldn't see very well. However, she could see that the figure was holding a gun of some kind. Maybe a rifle, maybe a shotgun, she honestly couldn't tell. It wasn't Quarian or Prothean. "Take it easy, child. Your body is not what it used to be," a feminine voice spoke. She could tell that the voice was a bit raspy, but also had a slightly muffled tone to it. Unable to see the figure's skin, she tried to look upwards but was met with pain whenever she strained her neck. Being disoriented and confused, Teval tried to lunge at the figure, but instead of hitting them, she fell right onto her face. Her legs weren't working like they used to- none of her limbs were- which sent the Inuquarian into disarray. Fear washed through her mind, her soul, so much so that she curled up into the fetal position.

[-]

Daro'Xen didn't have much to do during a diplomatic meeting, seeing as how such things bored her, and she'd much rather be conversing with one of the Inusynthetics. She excused herself from all of the conversations and set out to find the one named Khara. Lyna and Kyle could certainly explain everything without her being there, so she made her way down to where she last spotted Khara. It took her about an hour before she reached the medical bay. Xen was determined to find out more about the Inusynthetics. She could have asked any of the personnel walking the halls, but no, the curious Quarian wanted it from possibly one of the wisest synthetics aboard the ship.

Upon attempt of trying to enter the medbay, she was met with the sight of an Inusynthetic, one that was wearing a fully white, one-piece suit. It was standing in front of a console with various buttons and switches on it. Sometimes it pressed one of the buttons. Obviously, it heard her approach and promptly turned around to 'greet' her. "The one that you refer to as Teval'Rithari is currently undergoing operation. If you wish to speak to your Protheans or Khara Venatici, go back the way you came and then take a right. It'll be the first doorway in the hallway that you can enter. Would you like me to inform Khara that you're coming?"

Hearing all of this, Xen was confused. She was unaware that Teval was to be undergoing an operation so soon. Instead of dawdling on her thoughts, she simply nodded towards the Inusynthetic. "Yes, that'd be preferable," she drawled out. Before the Inusynthetic could even react, she followed its directions.

Xen entered the room only thirty seconds later, with Khara staring directly at her. She paused as she saw what was behind the Inusynthetic leader... A full display of Teval's operation. Instead of the pale skin that Daro was used to seeing, Teval was fully cut open, her organs being exposed to air. Inside of the chamber was an Inusannon, injecting some sort of grey goop into Teval's exposed organs. Metal appendages were extending down from the ceiling, all of which were focusing on Teval's head, they entered her ears, nostrils, and some even were stuck in her mouth. Two of the damn things were focusing on Teval's eyes, spearing the pupils with needles and circuitry chips. Khara looked over her shoulder, watching the methodical process of augmenting the Inuquarian with technologies that were almost incomprehensible to Daro'Xen. "Have you come here to observe us fixing the ill monstrosity that these two created?" Khara inquired with a great amount of malice in her tone. She gestured towards the Prothean duo, who were standing side-by-side in the corner of the room.

Stepping forward, Xen shook her head. "I wasn't aware that Teval was being operated on by your people, much less by machines. So no, I didn't come for that."

"Hmph. Then what exactly did you come for, if not to observe this poor child's hybridization?" Khara inquired, taking a small, but intimidating step towards Daro'Xen.

The door locked behind Xen, effectively trapping her inside of the room. She stared up at the Inusynthetic, as if challenging the large synthetic creature. "I didn't come here to discuss our impending doom alongside Kyle and his Asari lover," she growled while pacing from one side of the room to another. "Actually, I wanted to learn more about the Inusynthetics, more about the Inusannon, the Sannokar. Above all else, I'd want to see a sample of your AI codes."

Khara blinked a few times before holding out her hand idly. The palm of her colossal hand was facing the ceiling. "Come closer to me, and I'll give you all the knowledge that you desire."

Korlib piped up, his voice full of absolute concern, "Daro, I'm warning you, do not trust that thing!" He stepped towards Xen, trying to grab onto her shoulder, and pull her away. Before he could even do such an action, his arm was grasped onto. Delaki was the one to do it. She seemed to be worried.

"Quiet, Prothean. I've seen what you've done to the poor girl in that chamber; if there is anyone that this Quarian should not trust, it would be you," the Inusynthetic flatly spoke. Xen, against her better judgement, stepped forwards. Korlib hadn't given her a reason on why he was so frightened, and she didn't entirely trust the Prothean, despite knowing him for years on end. Without any more words out of Delaki, Korlib, or Khara, Xen stood as close to Khara as she could. The Inusynthetic slowly positioned the palms of her hands onto the sides of Xen's head, grasping the woman's helmet. "Daro…" Khara trailed off, quickly analyzing the name, and finally getting used to it. "Your immune system is fairly weak, you are ill. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to ask you to remove your mask if you wish to continue on. If you choose not to, the electromagnetic interference will-"

Xen slowly backed away, completely denying the Inusynthetic's orders. "Or you could easily transfer everything to my omni-tool," she retorted by waving her arm around.

Without another word from the towering Inusynthetic, she stepped forwards, and placed two of her fingers on Xen's wrist. From there, Xen's omni-tool filled up with various files on the Inusannon Federation. She didn't know what to say, or even think, as Khara slowly removed her fingers from Xen's wrist, as a way to say that the transfer of data had been completed. "I took the liberty of reading a small amount of information off of your omni-tool while gifting you what you desired. It's impressive on what your people have done ever since Kyle Terrah united you with the Geth… Even more impressive on how you survived a polonium tipped bullet entering your body. Nice little diary by the way… Very… Amusing..."

"Kyle took care of me. If not for him, then I'd most certainly be rotting on the ground by now." Xen completely disregarded the taunts of the Inusynthetic as well.

"I don't doubt that," Khara muttered. Her gaze snapped back to the window, where the same Inusannon was taking the machinery out of Teval's mouth. "Her procedure is almost complete. If you would be so kind as to go check on Teval, that'd be greatly preferable over these Protheans doing so. Be warned, she may have experienced temporary memory loss."

"I would be happy to… Glad to know that someone else, even a new species, disagrees with what they do," Xen spoke while gesturing at the Protheans. As soon as Daro'Xen exited the room, she opened her omni-tool and browsed through everything that Khara had transferred to it. She was surprised at what she found at the start of the list; the blueprints for an AI core that she had a hard time comprehending. As she grew nearer and nearer to the same Inusynthetic that told her of the location of Khara, she had a feeling of dread deep in her stomach. Today, Daro'Xen could be described as ultimately fearless as she passed by the Inusynthetic and stood before the door. Teval could be seen blinking, looking around the room as Avenali just exited it.

"Keep the door open, Kamen," Avenali muttered, stepping past Daro'Xen. Kamen didn't seem to protest Avenali's order, as he allowed Xen passage through the door. It closed behind her, but that wasn't the issue.

"Take it easy, child. Your body is not what it used to be." Teval had already fallen to the floor as Xen grew closer to her, and to Daro's dismay, the scared and modified Inuquarian threw herself at Xen's feet. Crouching down to inspect the weakened Inuquarian, she started to turn Teval over, to where her wrist was taken in the other's grip.

"Where are... Where's Delaki? Korlib? Where are we?" Teval nervously asked, grasping onto Xen's hand as if her life depended on it.

Daro'Xen patted Teval on her shoulder, watching the small Inuquarian curl up, shivering lightly. "Delaki and Korlib are… Close, but they… They're discussing a few things with our new friends."

Watching as Teval pushed herself up, Xen inched back, still staying in a crouched position. Teval lost her balance, falling down and nearly striking her head on the cold, steel floor. It took a few more times for the clumsy Inuquarian to get used to her body again, but eventually she tried to stand up once again. Ultimately, she fell on her butt, a small whine coming from her mouth. "I'll ask again, where are we? I know, a room, but this… I can already tell, this is foreign architecture. Are we on the Citadel? Omega?"

"We're aboard an Inusannon ship. They fixed you, cured you of your sicknesses. You're alright now, I promise." Xen scooted towards Teval, embracing the equally sized girl in her arms. "Avenali, Kamen, can one of you carry Teval? She's unable to walk and I'm not strong enough to carry around a child of her size."

In her grasp, Teval was stiff, but she was moving her head around, still observing the room that she was in. "I-Inusannon? We're… Are you lying to me? Playing at an elaborate ruse?" Teval inquired, pushing herself away from Xen, a scowl on her unmasked face.

Just then, Avenali stepped into the room and looked down at the two Quarians, her gaze mainly resting on Daro'Xen. "I've been ordered by Kochinan Vez'da to inform the two of you that we'll be arriving in-system soon. As such, it's mandatory that you head to the bridge. Kamen will be carrying the child."

 **A/N: This is the first part of the Inusannon meeting, and the second part will be released in about a month or two. There are a few things that I should note: Like most of my recent chapters before this, it took a long time for this to be written. I'm not the best at political scenes, and my mind can't really expand on them as far as I want. Secondly, third person scenes will probably appear more often, not in every chapter, but more than before.**


	25. Chapter 25: Fear

Chapter 25.

Date: February 2nd, 2095…

Twelve hours after initial contact with the Inusannon Federation.

I walked through the hallways, following behind Kochinan Vez'da. Lyna was at my left, Daro'Xen to my right, and the projection of Sirius right behind me. Sounds of footsteps echoed off of the spacious walls and wide-angled 'windows.' which were actually holo-projections created by cameras located on the hull of the ship. Amazingly, they were crystal clear and I could see the cold darkness of space outside of them. The occasional star was located here and there, but most of what I saw was just dark space. Lyna came a bit closer to me, the space between us shrinking to the point of being just enough for her to whisper into my ear. "Is it just me, or does all of this seem fake? There is no way in hell that these people are _this_ hospitable towards a fleet that just tried to enter their home system…"

"Yeah… I'm getting the same vibe… Be on guard," I breathed back. My only reply was a nod from the Asari.

As we turned into a room, I started to take in the true view of everything inside of it. Silver-hued 'tables' outlined the perimeter, while the rest of the room was relatively empty. The door closed behind Sirius as soon as he entered the room and Kochinan turned around to face us. "In here, you'll get a full visualization of our home system. We'll also discuss anything and everything in here for the time being. Your exploration flotilla is going to be orbiting one of our dyson spheres until we finish our talks. This is non-negotiable. Is that clear?"

I took the liberty of talking first, being the one who guided the URG here in the first place. "I understand completely."

Kochinan chuckled deeply for a few seconds, gesturing for us to venture forth. "For 100,000 years, we have prospered here, creating new worlds to harbor our ever-expanding population. During the time of the Protheans, we had hoped that they would find us, but alas, they failed. However, it's a good sign that at least some of them survived, just as we did. I'm fully aware that you require the Inusannon Federation's aid to defeat the Reapers and we'll gladly help you in your fight. After all, my people are itching for revenge against those beasts."

"Uh… What? I don't have to give a speech about how you should help us, a much less advanced galactic society, against the Reapers?" I asked, a bit flabbergasted by Kochinan's willingness to assist the wider galaxy.

Lyna piped up, "Okay, okay. That's hard to believe! Honestly, I had my doubts before, but now I'm not even sure if I believe you, is there some sort of catch to thi-"

"A catch? If you include giving me a bit of backstory on the galaxy as a whole as a 'catch,' then yes. There is one. I want to know how you found us, how you even acquired the means of coming here and why he is implanted with cybernetics from 100,000 years ago," Kochinan interrupted Lyna. He turned his head towards me following the latter half of his demands. "Not to mention that those implants are clearly labeled under the name of the previous Mertvyykamen Federation."

"To explain, the Mertvyykamen Federation was the ruling body of the galaxy when we were at war with the Reapers," Sirius muttered from behind me.

I raised my arms up in absolute confusion. "Hold on, wait just a fucking second. Mertvyykamen Federation? During the war with the Reapers? And somehow, I'm involved in something that happened hundreds of thousands… _Hundreds of thousands_ of years ago. I don't know about you, but that's many, many millennia away from when I was born. So basically, I was implanted before I was even a sperm cell. Yeah. Great logic there."

"You're an interloper, or rather a last-ditch effort by the Mertvyykamen Federation to defeat the Reapers. They assumed that we wouldn't survive the Reaper wars, so they experimented with wormholes. You are one of the 'subjects' that they pulled out of a different dimension. As for how you retained your physical state, it can only be assumed that they used another sort of astronomical object to transport you to Thessia," Sirius spoke from behind me.

"Bullshit. When he appeared out of nowhere, flying that-" Lyna paused, slightly squinting at me.

Xen harshly elbowed Lyna in her side, to which the Asari responded by growling at the Quarian. "Honestly, I believe it's completely possible. There's not another theory other than he somehow obtained those implants through 'magic.' What a pitiful explanation that'd be." Daro turned her head towards Sirius, who had moved right up to Kochinan Vez'da. She started to speak again, "I was there when Kyle discovered and even absorbed you into his omni-tool, why didn't you just tell us then?"

"More pressing matters occurred...Such as you being shot by a Geth Heretic," Sirius retorted.

Kochinan held one of his hands up, as if to silence the conversation. Everyone stared at him as if they were confused, just as I was. "Let's move on from this. We've found an answer. Let us leave it at that. Now, Interloper, before we move on, I'd like to know what the future holds for us."

"The future? I'm not sure about what you think I am, but I can most certainly tell you that I'm not a fortune teller. I know that the rest of my race will enter galactic society in the late 2150's and the Reapers will invade in the 2180's. That is what I know and understand," I told Kochinan, but I didn't just stop there. "I've already altered the timeline drastically, so honestly, there is no telling what the future holds for us."

Kochinan's eyes lit up. The Inusannon admiral, or Pervichalomar as his people called him, seemed to jump as soon as I told him the dates that the Reapers would try to invade. "So we have just under a century to prepare. Understood. It's better than no time at all, but we'll have to act quickly. Sirius, after we're done here, tell me all of the worlds that can be mined for sufficient resources. I'll need a full list once we're done mobilizing our fleets. As for you, Asari, could you perhaps explain the galactic governments to me?"

"Well… There's the URG, the United Rannoch Government… That is comprised of the Quarians, Geth, and the Protheans. Past that, we have the Citadel Council, which is made up of Asari, Turian, and Salarian. Under them are the Hanar, Batarians, Elcor, Volus, and Drell. In the Terminus, you'll have Omega, the Eclipse, and the Blood Pack. Everything in that region is looked over by Aria T'Loak and is also where the Vorcha mainly stay. There's many Krogan there. In short, there will be a lot of species that you're dealing with," Lyna listed out to the Inusannon commander. She was quite confident with what she was speaking of. "Kyle and I have already convinced Aria with the help of Sirius, showing the last moments of Tenojika Ve'Skardi."

"And Humanity is on Earth… Which is in the Orion arm of our galaxy," I added in.

Soon after Lyna had finished her monologuing, Xen had tapped me on my shoulder. "Kyle, I'm going to head down to wherever that Khara person is… I wish to learn more about the Inusynthetics. The current ones. I'll return as soon as I'm finished."

I nodded my head in confirmation, allowing Xen to exit the room silently. I knew that I could easily trust her and that she wouldn't contribute much to the conversation anyways. Xen wasn't as much of a political figure as I was, which I didn't mind all that much. Kochinan of course noticed Xen slowly sneaking out of the room, but didn't protest. Instead, he just continued listening to Lyna, his full, undivided attention now resting on the Asari huntress. "That's certainly a lot of species, Asari… A lot of species to help prepare for the incoming invasion," Kochinan mused.

"I highly doubt any race would appreciate you sending a fleet into their territory. They would most likely see it as an invasion force," Lyna replied, her voice as still as stone.

Kochinan sighed, opening up a small display in the middle of the room. It floated there as a hologram in the Inusannon leader's hands. He whisked a part of the hologram over to us, causing Lyna to visibly recoil. "Then go to the current galactic leaders, the Citadel Council, and tell them to start their preparations. I don't care how you do it, but you must convince them to prepare for the Reapers."

Sirius' projection passed right through Lyna and I as he grabbed onto the hologram, slowly absorbing it into my omni-tool. I was a bit creeped out by the projection passing through Lyna and I like a ghost, but that wasn't my key concern. "From what I've seen, the Citadel Council is a stubborn bunch. It'd be best if we had at least one Inusannon ship with us, instead of just an outlawed AI, me, and an Asari huntress..."

"No, no, no, I completely disagree. If the Inusannon come with us, it will spell out war. Complete war until the Reapers only have humanity left to destroy," Lyna protested.

"If the Inusannon come with us, we'll have a solid foundation for our proof. For all we know, they'd disregard us otherwise, Lyna. They'd say that it was some sort of fabrication. We do not want that, I assure you."

The Asari sighed, looking over to Sirius and Kochinan for a form of support. Kochinan caught her gaze and spoke up. "You will go there in your own ship. If your councilors refuse to believe the proof, then I'll be happy to provide you with the presence of one of our fleets."

"A destroyer. Why not just send an envoy ship? Seeing a fully armed ship burst out of a Mass Relay in front of the Citadel would most definitely trigger an unneeded war," Lyna replied, challenging the Inusannon leader.

Raising his hand, Sirius finally came back into the conversation. "That's only if they don't believe us. I'm sure that they have enough sense to see our proof. If they can't see past that, we could just point them in the direction of Mertvyykamen. Reaper corpses litter that barren wasteland of our old homeworld."

I paused for a few seconds, bringing my hand up to my head and rubbing one of my temples. "You have to be kidding… The Council… Every single race of the Citadel hates artificial intelligence. We reveal Sirius and it's all over for us."

"They don't use AIs? How foolish," Kochinan growled. He was a bit outraged to say the least. "I suggest that all of you relax for at least four years, think of what you're going to say to the Council. We'll have a physical body for Sirius created within that time. Anyways, we all should head to the bridge. I hear that Svesa has just finished briefing the others and we'll be dropping out of FTL near Prasodetol soon."

[-]

"-The Inusannon Federation will be watching over you from now on," Svesa sighed, staring down at both of the Quarian Admirals.

"I promise you, this will be good for all of us. Having the Inusannon in our society will advance us by millennia. Think of it this way, if the Inusannon share their medical technologies with us, we won't even have to wear these suits anymore." Kapo'Xen turned his head over to Raan. The Geth platforms were idly standing at the table where the two admirals were sitting. Svesa, the Sannokar, was pacing from side to side, trying to convince Shala agree to everything that she was promising.

Shala turned her head towards Kapo'Xen, shaking it vigorously. "It's all about technology with you… Have you even thought about what changes they'll make to our gover-"

"I assure you, Admiral Raan, my federation does not want to alter your 'United Rannoch Government' in any way. Understand that we have one single goal in all of this: Defeating the Reapers," Svesa growled, "and their indoctrinated slaves."

Nomanye, the Geth Destroyer, walked up to Raan and lightly tapped her shoulder. "We believe that it would be in the best interests of the URG to trust the Inusannon Federation, Creator Shala'Raan. That's why we, the Quarians and the Consensus, came all the way out to the Lidera Kop'ye cluster, to forge an alliance with the Inusannon Federation."

Raan clenched her fists, scratching her suit against the table's metal alloy. "Fine, I've argued my side long enough. I'll agree with Kapo'Xen to let you into the Tikkun system, but know this: If and when the Reapers come, you'd better be ready to help protect our territory."

"That's the purpose of this alliance, Admiral Raan. To assist you as well as the galaxy as a whole when the Reapers eventually invade. We'll start sending ships to Rannoch as soon as you get back to your home system." Svesa smiled at the Quarian admirals, happily looking over to another male Sannokar that was in the room. He had identified himself as Lygieran Naka'ruynel earlier on. "Since that has been settled, I'm going to ask that you order your little fleet onwards into Novayazemira… One of our cruisers will be there to greet them."

Almost immediately, Kapo'Xen pulled up his omni-tool and contacted the current URG flagship, the _Vekaani_. "Captain Pela'Terza…"

From the speaker on the admiral's omni-tool, the flagship's captain responded in a rather astonished voice, "Admiral Kapo'Xen, it's a pleasure to hear your voice, sir. We've been trying to contact you, but unable to get through. I presume you've found our targets?"

"As much as Raan wishes that we found nothing, we definitely found them. They want us to bring the fleet into Novayazemira," the Quarian admiral calmly murmured out. His gaze was laying directly on Svesa, who had her arms crossed underneath her chest, still pacing from side to side. His little quip towards Raan earned a growl from the other admiral.

"Sir? The entire fleet? Are you sure?"

"If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't be contacting you, Pela. Bring our people into Novayazemira immediately. You already know that I don't enjoy repeating myself, so I suggest that you hurry up and move our fleet."

The other end of the line was quiet for a few seconds, creating tension between Kapo'Xen and Pela'Terza. Eventually, the captain of the other vessel sighed. "Very well. The _Vekaani_ and her children will drop in shortly."

"Thank you, Pela. Keelah Se'Lai," Kapo'Xen blankly stated, putting his hand down while his omni-tool was still active. He was waiting for Pela'Terza to end the conversation.

"Keelah Se'Lai, Admiral…" Pela was silent for a few seconds and an idle tapping of metal against metal was emitted from Kapo'Xen's omni-tool. This was how Pela made a decision, tapping her fingers against the metal armrests of her seat. After a few moments of the tapping from the other line, it was eventually cut.

Clasping her hands together, Svesa finally stopped pacing around the room. A bright smile stretched across her face as she finally gestured for the admirals to stand up. "I'm glad we see eye-to-eye, Kapo'Xen," the Sannokar beamed, taking Kapo's waist in her hands and hugging him tightly. "May this be the blossoming alliance that we so desperately need in order to defeat those that threaten all organic life with extinction."

Awkwardly re-embracing the Sannokar Admiral, Kapo'Xen looked up to the much taller woman. "Indeed, for a new age for our people, Inusannon, Sannokar, Inusynthetic, Quarian, Geth, and Prothean alike."

Kapo'Xen let go of Svesa's hand, turning back to Shala'Raan, who was standing near one of the Geth platforms. The Sannokar followed his gaze, letting her own rest on the other Admiral. "You'll come to understand, Shala'Raan, that all of our people will greatly benefit from this meeting, I promise you that much," Svesa lightly spoke, her voice taking on a smaller tone. She moved past Kapo'Xen, walking right up to Shala'Raan and putting one of her massive hands onto the admiral's shoulder. "My people didn't have a choice in joining the Inusannon Federation. They uplifted us, gave our species a name and a spot on their high council. Before their intervention, the average Sannokar only lived for fifty years. I'm in my thousands. You made the right decision for your people in allying with us. If I were you, I'd not mope about that."

Short, shallow breathing came from the female admiral. Raan wasn't sure quite sure on what to say. "I'll start believing you when you manufacture a means to heal our weak immune systems and get us out of these damn suits."

"I'll be sure to inform our medical officers to start manufacturing high amounts Avtizana for your people. Of course, we'll probably need samples of Quarian DNA to manufacture a version for your biology. As for now, I need to contact Kochinan. We'll head up to the bridge after he's done with those other three and after Khara has finished dealing with the Protheans."

[-]

I exited the room right after Sirius and Kamen. Lyna followed close behind me, and Xen? Xen was still off finding the Inusynthetic Admiral. I adjusted the sling of my ISYLR on my shoulder, feeling a bit uneasy as we walked through the halls. I didn't know entirely what it was, but the feeling was cold, unnatural. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I slowed my pace for a moment, to where I was walking right by Lyna's side yet again. Before a word even left my mouth, she cut me off, "I can't help but feel as if something or someone is following us."

"I was about to say the same thing," I whispered, taking a small glance behind me. "Sometimes I hear a fourth pair of footsteps. Am I going crazy?"

Lyna glanced down to her omni-tool, staring at it for a good few seconds. "I hear it too, but it may be another Inusannon going the same way. We're probably just being paranoid."

"You might be right. I still can't shake this feeling of unease."

The Asari Huntress dismissively shrugged, "You're paranoid. There. Now shut up and keep walking."

I turned my head towards Lyna, cocking it to the side sarcastically. I copied her shrug and moved on shortly afterwards. Either way, I couldn't shake the feeling, no matter what I tried to think about. It lingered and now I was determined to find out what it was.

 _Sirius, I seriously feel like we're not alone here._

' _We're on a ship that sports more than a hundred thousand crew members. It's quite obvious that we're not alone.'_

 _No, you ass. There's someone or something following us. Use the internal sensors of the vessel to run a scan. See if there's anyone following us. Maybe infrared?_

' _Cloaked figure, fifteen meters behind us. They might be armed. I don't know who they are, but they have the stature of a female Quarian. It could be Daro'Xen. Continue walking, do not engage unless otherwise notified. You may tell Lyna if you wish.'_

 _First off, Daro doesn't own a cloak, nor would she have reason to sneak around behind our backs. Secondly, how the hell would I engage something that I can't see?_

I abided by Sirius's words, though I did hold onto the strap of my ISYLR a little bit tighter. I wrapped my left arm around Lyna, pulling her close to me. This earned me a scowl from the Asari, but I ultimately ignored it. "Someone _is_ behind us. Sirius is attempting to find out who they are," I whispered, such things being barely audible to the Asari while we walked throughout the halls. To make my actions a little more believable to anyone following us, I kissed Lyna on her forehead. "Once we get into the bridge, be ready to face anyone."

"Are you sure?" Lyna whispered back in a hushed tone. She was as quiet as I was, obviously taking the situation seriously. She snuggled into me, finally understanding what I was doing.

I nodded. "If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't be bringing this up."

A minute passed on, with whoever was behind us keeping their distance as we made our way onto the bridge. I took in my surroundings for a moment. All around the room were computer systems and various holographic interfaces. Inusannon, Inusynthetics, and the occasional Sannokar were scattered about. Once entering the room, almost all of the working stopped, save for one person. An Inusynthetic pilot, seated directly at one of the holographic 'windows' was continuing to do her tasks. "Pervichalomar Vez'da. You have great timing with our guests. We'll enter Zarkin's orbit in two, maybe three minutes."

"Very good, Cygnus. I trust that you have informed the Kolomkorable of the fleet of our visitors?" Kochinan questioned the Inusynthetic pilot. He stood straight and had his arms intertwined behind his back.

 _The Kolomkorable?_

' _As far as I can tell, it's one of the Inusannon carriers. It could act as its own battlegroup with the destroyers that it has in its hull.'_

Cygnus pressed a few holographic buttons and dragged a pink-hued display down. "Yes, though I hear Svesa wanted an entire fleet to greet them."

Right as Cygnus finished speaking, I heard the all too familiar sound of a Geth-manufactured weapon being activated. I had enough time to react to this, as a shot was fired right as I stepped in front of where I thought the weapon would fire. I presumed it was a shot intended for the back of Kochinan's head. Instead of hitting its original target, it tore right into my right shoulder, exiting out of my shoulder shortly afterwards and striking Kochinan in his spinal armor. It bounced off of the metal, only making a ping on it. The pulse round just missed my artery, which was good news for me. Gritting my teeth, I stepped forwards, using my non-injured arm to unsling my ISYLR. When it came off of my shoulder, I heard a ping echo off of the weapon, signifying that a bullet had penetrated my rifle, completely destroying it in the process. All the while, Lyna had summoned her biotics and put my assailant into a biotic stasis. I was able to get a good look at the person, who I recognized almost immediately. There she was, Lera'Gerrel, the same Quarian that had helped me find and converse with the Geth before the United Rannoch Government came to be. She was frozen in a dark energy field, holding a Geth Heretic's pulse rifle. I dropped my ISYLR onto the floor, staring directly at the girl. I formed a fist with my left hand, squinting at the girl who had served me all that time ago. My shoulder was dripping blood and my clothing had been scorched around my wound. "Reaper-worshipping bitch," I yelled out, using my dwindling strength to strike Lera right in her mask with my clenched fist. Her mask didn't shatter on the first blow, but my fist did hit her right as the stasis wore off, causing her to crumble to the ground in shock. I straddled her on the ground, using my strength to break the glass in with my fist. It took about nine hits before the thing finally broke. With glass sticking out of my hand, I delivered yet another punch to the woman's now bloodied face. She was stunned, so I took that time to grab onto Lera's rifle and skid it across the floor. Shortly after that, I was pulled off of the traitorous Quarian by Lyna, who immediately started putting pressure on my shoulder with her hands. "Someone grab that rifle," I ordered while trying to break free of the Asari's grasp. Lyna wouldn't let me go, as I heard the tearing of cloth behind me and a bit of cloth being pressed to my wound.

"Gladly," Svesa said, walking into the room with the Quarian admirals and the Geth in tow. A shotgun was in her hands, pointed directly at the Quarian on the ground. She kept it aimed at Lera'Gerrel while bending down to grab the Heretic's pulse rifle. Svesa took the time to look over it for a few seconds, but ultimately placed it on a magnetic clamp attached to her thigh.

Lera turned over, holding her face in her hands, whimpering at her current predicament. Kochinan had already turned around, looking down at the Quarian traitor. He turned his head to me moments later, noticing the hole in my shoulder. "How very interesting…"

[-]

"We need to move, now. There's been an incident on the bridge," Khara ordered, gesturing towards Avenali, the Inusannon medical officer who had treated Teval. The Inusynthetic held a long rifle which looked similar to Kyle's weapon, at least in Xen's eyes. She was still tending to Teval in Kamen's arms as they strode along the halls, where the poor Inuquarian was shaken by her surgeries. Daro'Xen was aware of the impacts of previous experiments that Teval had been forced to go through, but nothing had quite altered Teval's behavior like this.

Every little sound startled the Inuquarian and when alarms began to blare throughout the corridors, she clutched her ears while in Kamen's arms. "Come on child, come on. The machines will no longer hurt you." Xen ran her fingers through Teval's hair. She was still plugging her ears as she was being carried by Kamen. Daro ran alongside Kamen, desperately trying to catch up with the Inusynthetic leader and her medical officer.

"Ma'am, if you don't mind me asking, what is going on?" Avenali asked, jogging beside Khara.

"Our visitors either had a stow-away, or they purposefully brought an indoctrinated slave to us. It tried to assassinate Kochinan, but the feeds show that the human, Kyle Terrah, took the round that was originally intended for our Pervichalomar."

Daro'Xen coughed as she followed behind Khara, shocked by the woman's words. "Kyle was shot? Is he alive?!"

"For now, yes. As far as I'm concerned, he'll be okay," Khara responded.

Panting, Xen ran just a bit faster. She was concerned and she nearly stumbled a few times from running so fast inside of the giant Inusannon Flagship. She'd be at the bridge soon, but maybe not soon enough.

[-]

"Ah fucking hell. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," I muttered, holding Lyna's hand on my shoulder as I watched Kochinan lift Lera off of the ground by her neck. Lyna was still tending to my wound and I was watching on, wondering what exactly Lera's fate would be.

Lyna patted me on the face, as a way to get my attention. "Hey Kyle, do me a favor: Shut up, remove your hand from the wound and let me put pressure on the damn thing. You could have been poisoned for all that we know."

I slowly revealed my bullet wound to Lyna. Where skin would have been, there was burnt skin in a four meter diameter. "Seriously? Can pulse weapons even carry poison in their ammunition?"

"Don't be so whiny about it, I'm just going to check the wound, that's all." Lyna rolled her eyes for a second, taking the time to scan over the entry wound with her omni-tool. While she was doing her little scan, I focused majorly on Kochinan. The tendrils on the back of Kochinan's head were diving into Lera's open orifices. Some amount of blood was seeping out of her nose as Kochinan opened his mouth, small metallic twigs pierced Lera's skull, wiggling around as they dove past the bone cartilage and into her brain. I was completely and utterly shocked. The holes became larger, blood and grey goop seeping out of them. Fluid was sucked through Kochinan's tendrils, to which I could only assume that it was Lera's brain. Moments later, Kochinan's metallic twigs suddenly pulled back, taking what seemed to be the last bit of grey matter with them. The Pervichalomar yanked all of his bodily additions out of Lera. The color was drained from Lera's body, her eyes being completely white. No pupils, no irises. He let go of the Quarian's body, where it fell onto the ground and blood started to pour out of her pores. Hell, the remainders of her brain even fell out of her nose.

The 'tentacles' returned to their original positions and a small chuckle came directly from the Inusannon leader. "You're lucky that she was a stowaway, though I'm surprised that you didn't detect her. She was indeed indoctrinated and the ammunition from that so-called 'pulse rifle' was sterile. Kyle Terrah, you should be fine."

"I was just shot! I don't think that counts as 'fine.' Also, what in the absolute fuck did you do to her?!" I gazed at Kochinan for a few seconds, flinching as Lyna poked at my wound. He didn't directly answer me as he turned around and stared out of the holographic displays all around the room. The Asari was doing a poor job at treating my wound, so I glanced at her, giving her a fine look of disapproval.

She shrugged for a moment, but then Svesa walked up alongside the Asari. Lyna was forcefully pulled away from me by the Sannokar, who assumed Lyna's position of tending to my gunshot wound shortly afterwards. Since the woman was taller than I was, she had to bend down to focus on my slightly charred skin. The Sannokar wordlessly pressed a hand up to my burnt flesh, running her fingers right over it. "Uh. What exactly is going on?" Lyna asked, rubbing the back of her neck in great confusion. She turned back to see Lera's completely bloodied body, to which she gasped and visibly recoiled. "In the name of Athame…"

Unfortunately, Lyna didn't get a single response from Svesa, as the woman was entirely focused on applying some sort of liquid based substance to my wound. I wasn't sure if this woman was trying to kill me or not. She didn't even know if it would work with my biology! Once the stinging of whatever this crap was hit me, I tried to break away from Svesa, but her iron grip held me in place. "Quit it. The daonna will help you if you stop resisting against it," Svesa ordered, dripping some more of that odd grey liquid onto my flesh wound.

I protested against the Sannokar, jerking back once again. Though it was no use, as the medicine was already in my body. "You quit it, are you trying to kill em with that stuff? How the hell do you even know if it'll work with my body?!"

"I get that you're angry, but please. This will not kill you. If you're an Interloper, what Kochinan says you are, you will be fine," Svesa tried to reassure me, but words wouldn't work for me right now.

At this point, Kapo'Xen walked forwards and bent over Lera'Gerrel's body, staring at it while cocking his head to the side. "She was acting completely normal before this, I don't understand…"

"And I don't understand how or why your people were experimenting with Reaper tech," Kochinan turned his head back, staring at Kapo'Xen through his peripheral vision. "You didn't even take the necessary precautions to prevent indoctrination! Not only that, but you also have an indoctrinated Quarian running across the galaxy!"

Just as Kochinan yelled that, Khara Venatici, the synthetic from before, entered the room. Another Inusannon trailed right behind her, with Daro, Delaki, Korlib, and Kamen with Teval following right behind the Inusannon. The bridge was becoming relatively crowded and many emotions were filling the room. Teval was the first one to shriek from seeing Lera'Gerrel's dead body and she held onto the metal arm out of pure fear. Daro'Xen's head turned towards me, where she could see my rapidly healing wound. "Kyle, what even happened here?"

"Lera was apparently indoctrinated. She tried to shoot Kochinan. Good news is that I blocked the bullet. Bad news is that I was shot," I joked, trying to at least raise the mood a bit in here. "I believe that she was indoctrinated alongside Ferryn'Artrem…"

Daro'Xen put a hand to her mask, her other hand resting on her hip. "I suspected as much. How did you subdue her?"

"I was shot. Lyna put her into stasis and then I broke her mask with multiple punches… Kochinan did… Did… I'm not sure what he did… She's dead now…"

"And how exactly did this indoctrinated primitive die?" Korlib asked, blinking all four of his eyes curiously. He was one of the only Protheans that described species of this cycle as primitives. "Clearly, just your little slug thrower would not do what we're seeing here."

Kochinan turned back around, squinting at the much smaller Protheans. "Whoever would keep an indoctrinated person alive would be a complete and utter fool. I liquefied her brain after I was done with the data that her mind held," Kochinan explained, staring directly at Korlib. He stepped over to the Prothean, who took an instinctive step back. "You will also stop naming the ones in the younger cycles as primitives. It's 'primitive' of yourself to do such a thing."

Korlib growled at the Inusannon commander, "These primitives don't deserve such an honor! What have they done to earn our respect?"

"Very well," chuckled the Inusannon, turning his gaze back to Khara and giving her a small nod. The Inusynthetic put some sort of device onto Korlib's back, effectively freezing him where he stood. I noted that Teval was clutching onto Kamen's metal arm tighter, as he took a step back for the sake of the Inuquarian. Delaki stood there, glaring at Kochinan. Shala'Raan, Kapo'Xen and Svesa were all staring at the debacle, while the Geth platforms stood there idly, not doing anything. "During the days of the Mertvyykamen Federation, we commonly held Prothean slaves. Now, that's a dated practice, an outlawed one, but I'm willing to make an exception just for you." Kochinan strode forwards, running a single finger over Korlib's chin. He then snapped his fingers and Korlib fell to the floor, the device sitting right beside him.

Korlib began to cough up some odd dark-grey fluids as he stared up to Kochinan, who smiled down at the Prothean. Delaki suddenly rushed up, helping her comrade up off of the floor. "What was that? What happened to Korlib?" I asked, gazing at the Prothean who was coughing up the goop.

"An internal device used to keep the former slave Protheans in line. It's usually transmitted sexually, festering inside of the fetus during its development. Don't worry, we have no intentions to take slaves anymore. Korlib is actually coughing up the device right now," Svesa answered me, patting my shoulder and turning around. She made her way over to Kochinan shortly after that, while Lyna and I sat back against a wall. The Sannokar had obviously finished patching up my shoulder after explaining that unneeded bit of information.

I turned my head over to Lyna, still holding the wound on my shoulder. "So. We're here, we're on an Inusannon ship… Question is, would you rather deal with this, or the Council?"

"We're already dealing with one. Their leader has ordered us to actually meet the Council. It's not like we have much of a choice anymore," she sighed, pressing her back up against the wall.

I rolled my eyes, leaning myself against the wall and wrapping my working arm around Lyna's waist. "How pissed do you think Aria will be once she finds out that absolutely massive ships are cruising around the Terminus?"

Lyna turned her gaze over to me, to where I looked into those wonderful purple eyes of hers. "She'll definitely be displeased. I can only imagine how the Councilors will react. 'A species that doesn't fully use element zero? Impossible, it has to be,'" Lyna quoted, giggling a fair bit. "You know, I'm glad you're here. I'd be on the path to serving under Benezia if it wasn't for you. Not that it'd be a bad thing, but I'm much happier journeying throughout the galaxy, meeting new species... All of that."

"If I wasn't here, the crucible would be utilized, and sentient life as we know it would cease to exist.."

"Do you honestly think that we'll win against the Reapers? With their numbers, their size, their tech… I don't know, Kyle. Our chances of victory look slim," Lyna trailed off, gazing around the room once again. Sirius was talking to Cygnus, the Inusynthetic pilot. Delaki and Korlib were keeping their distance from Kochinan, who was speaking with Svesa. Most of the Quarians and Geth were huddled together in a group.

Moving my hand back a bit, I softly held the back of Lyna's neck, which caused her to calm down by an extremely small margin. I heard a slow and shaky breath exit her lungs. Without thinking too far into what I was doing, I wrapped a hand around Lyna's waist and brought her just a bit closer to me. She rested her head on my shoulder, holding me in her arms. Just as we embraced each other, the ship spun down its in-system drive, entering normal space and passing right by an absolutely massive planetoid. I watched on as my eyes landed on Trivon, with multiple man-made worlds scattered around it. "We'll win, no matter what. I promise," I told the Asari. I sighed to myself as I kissed her directly on the top of her head. I couldn't predict the future, not anymore at least. Whereas I had a clear head on the future just about twenty years ago, now? Now I wasn't too sure.

 **A/N: From this point forwards, many things will be different and the timeline has been changed permanently.**


	26. Chapter 26: Citadel

Chapter 26:

Date: February 11th, 2095, ten days after the discovery of the Inusannon.

I was surprised at the hospitality of the Inusannon Federation, even though there was still a bit of a tension between Kochinan, Korlib, and Delaki. The ISF had started fitting most of the United Rannoch Government's ships with their current drives, which they called a "Mezhadeni Core." It supposedly travels 525 light years per day, which would be approximately 21 light years per hour, as compared to the Bermuda's EMDrive, or even its previous element zero core, this would outclass it by at least a ten fold. Needless to say, the _Bermuda_ would also be receiving one of these cores.

As a token of appreciation, Sirius had gifted the Inusannon with the blueprints of the EMDrive, though I had my doubts on how useful it would be for their federation. Of course, we'd be departing as soon as the retrofits to the _Bermuda_ were complete. With how hard they were working, the upgrades would be completed in at least five days. Further modification to the ships would have to be done at a later date. The ISF had assured us that we'd be stable until then, but I didn't know whether to believe them or not.

During our departure, it was decided that an ISF colony ship would be accompanying us, along with two carriers and a few stealth frigates. The carriers and the colony ship would specifically be used to establish a stronghold on Rannoch. As for the stealth frigates, I could only speculate that they'd be doing scout missions throughout the galaxy. The colony ship that Kochinan ordered to enter galactic space was 14km long. From what I could see now, we looked more like an invasion fleet rather than one of diplomacy.

My arm, from where it had been shot by the late Lera'Gerrel, had healed for the most part. Avenali Wravn'kaleshnak, the Inusannon woman who also healed Teval, attached a portable device onto my arm. It couldn't have been bigger than a brick and it was surprisingly light, only being a pound at most (0.5 kilograms). The device dripped grey goop onto my wound, healing the fibers in my arm while keeping the entrance and exit wound slightly open. It burned any non-organic materials away, but kept my organic fibers intact. I was still having trouble with lifting heavier things, such as my rifle, but by the time we were back at Rannoch, I would be fully recovered.

Date: February 16th, 2095, five days later.

"I can't believe they'd even build something that big…" Lyna stood behind me, staring down at her omni-tool. On it was a window of the Inusannon colony ship, the full 14km (8.6mi).

I nodded my head and scratched one of my cheeks idly. "Mhmmmm. I assume that's what happens when you have nothing better to do and decide, 'Oh hey, let's just build ships the size of Mass Relays.'"

"Something tells me that the 'flagship' that they greeted us with wasn't actually a flagship. It might just be a frigate that mistranslated into flagship," she murmured, crossing her arms over the headrest of my seat. "I know what you're going to say, that size isn't everything. I disagree. Just one of these 'colony' ships could blow the Destiny Ascension to pieces just by ramming it, and that's completely ignoring all of those turrets on the outer hull."

"We'll not be warring with them, so why worry, Lyna?" I asked, kicking back in my seat with a small smile on my face. I watched as one of the Inusannon ships began to move, with the absolutely massive 14km long colony ship in the middle of it all. It had an architectural structure of wings, which I assumed helped it in atmosphere, but their purpose in space was not known to me. I had assumed that something as large as that wouldn't be operable in atmosphere, but I certainly wasn't an aerospace engineer, though I heard that they could be used as hangar bays, or supports for cannons.

Lyna didn't answer me, as she strode over to another seat where she plopped down and glanced at me for a few seconds. Sirius was already spinning up the _Bermuda_ 's new drive core, something that would possibly get us back to Rannoch in just a week or two, as opposed to the previous month-long journey. As soon as Sirius finished keying in the destination, the activation of the Mezhadeni core shook the ship. Light warped around the windows for a few moments, bending as the _Bermuda_ became unstable. Due to the relatively small size of the Asari-manufactured corvette, it was almost unable to handle an FTL drive such as the Mezhadeni core. One final jolt gave way to our journey to Rannoch. I knew for certain that once we arrived on the Quarian homeworld, the galaxy would start changing.

Date: February 27th, 2095, eleven days after embarking for Rannoch.

"Kyle, wake up already. We're going to be at Rannoch in just under thirty minutes." Lyna pushed at my shoulder. The last few days had been nothing but rest, and I was grateful for that. It was much needed after everything that had occurred.

I writhed around in the pilot's seat for a few seconds, taking the time to blink at Lyna and even sigh at her. "Ugh… What? Already?" I drowsily asked.

Lyna exhaled, rolling her eyes at me. "Yeah, already. Now come on, I've got something that I think you'll want to see."

Lazily pushing myself up out of the seat, I stood in front of Lyna, gazing tiredly at the Asari. I wouldn't be at my best for at least a couple more minutes. "So… What is it?"

Wordlessly, she turned me around almost forcefully. There on the holographic interfaces were Samara and Vodnik. Samara looked as cold and calculated as ever, though she seemed to be annoyed, maybe even displeased. Vodnik looked a bit worse for wear, a new scar was now present on his cheek and he definitely was angry. especially after all of the political bullshit that I had dealt with. "It's a video recording... This is a couple of weeks old, but I still think it's important."

"You think?" I cocked my head at Lyna while rolling my eyes.

"Okay, okay. Again, with the hostility and sarcasm, there's no need for that."

I crossed my arms over each other. "Well, go on then, play the video. Don't leave me hanging here until we reach Rannoch."

Without another peep from the Asari, she flicked a switch on her omni-tool and the video began to play.

[-]

"After all this time, we've finally located Morinth. For the last year, she's been traveling around the Silean Nebula, lying low, living discreetly," Samara said, folding her hands in her lap. She was wearing something other than her usual red justicar armor, a dress of some kind.

Vodnik was off to the side, popping a magazine in and out of his M1911. The sound was slightly annoying, but I didn't protest, mostly because it was a video. He was the one to speak up next. "We nearly trapped her on a remote world called Zorya in the Terminus. It only had a few villages on it, nothing big, probably a population of under five hundred people. When Morinth saw her mother, she attempted to run away, unfortunately, we were unable to stop her."

Samara nodded, staring at Vodnik for a few more seconds. She waved her hand while her palm was pointed towards the ground, to which Vodnik stopped messing around with his pistol and its magazine. Once silence reigned upon whatever room they were in, the justicar continued where Vodnik had left off. "We'll continue to update you two on the hunt for Morinth. If and when we trap her, or ever find ourselves in need of your help, you'll receive a message with this code…"

Samara and Vodnik flickered off of the screen, and suddenly another picture was up on it. It was an orange box, with black numbers and letters scattered about. They read out as, 'LvB.12.1770-3.1827.'

"Remember that, LvB.12.1770-3.1827. Whenever we give you this message, whether it be Vodnik or myself, it will be a priority," Samara said. She promptly ended the recording, giving a small nod to Vodnik right before her finger hit the holographic button.

[-]

I blinked while scratching the back of my head idly. "LvB… Ah crap, already forgot it," I trailed off, turning my head back to Lyna. "I'm not sure what that means."

"It's a code made by Vodnik and Samara. It's important if they're using codes now; we just need to remember it, you specifically." Lyna drawled out.

Shrugging, I strode over to the holographic display. The code that Vodnik had sent was of little concern, but why he had decided to contact us now was beyond me. It probably wasn't something to think too hard about, so I directed my attention to the matter at hand. One of the holographic displays showed that we were only a few light years away from Rannoch at this point. Audibly yawning, I rubbed my eyes and stepped back from the display. "I could really, really go for coffee right now, or a steak. Yeah, that sounds nice, a steak," I muttered, still staring into the holographic projection.

"You're homesick, aren't you?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I miss Earth."

Lyna walked up behind me, her footsteps only being masked by the hum of the Mezhadeni core. "Well, you know that Earth hasn't gone anywhere, right? You'll see it again in about sixty years if everything goes as planned. I mean, we could visit now if we knew where it was."

"If I wasn't experimented on by the earlier Inusannon, I'd be dead way before then. Now I have five hundred years to waste," I exhaled, gazing back at Lyna.

"Five hundred years, maybe more, maybe less. Only Krogan and Asari can live that long. You know, once this is all over," Lyna paused, pulling my hunched form away from the displays. "...We'll live out the rest of our days on a planet, whether that be Earth, Thessia, or… Somewhere else."

I slowly trailed my hands up Lyna's back, pulling her ever closer to me. "That is, if we make it through the Reaper Wars," I responded.

"Oh shush. We'll beat them to a mechanical pulp, make Harbinger cry tears...or oil as his entire army is destroyed before his eyes.."

I broke out into a fit of laughter, eventually taking the time to kiss the Asari on her lips between periods of chuckling. Before I could reply, I felt the ship jolt for a second. "Sirius? What was that?"

Silence followed my question, but Sirius' voice soon reigned throughout the _Bermuda_ 's halls, "I'm preparing the ship to exit FTL, as we'll be dropping into United Rannoch Government-occupied space in less than a minute. Our arrival will be only a few seconds ahead of everyone else."

Arching one of my eyebrows, I shifted my gaze towards Lyna. "Our entire trip lasted thirty minutes?"

"Huh… Apparently," Lyna replied with a shrug. She broke our embrace and strode over to one of the displays, pulling up a display of Rannoch. It'd go live as soon as we dropped out of FTL.

As we grew closer and closer to the Tikkun System, I couldn't help but to walk up beside Lyna, pulling up another display to monitor radio chatter. I didn't pick up anything within five seconds. Said five seconds passed and the _Bermuda_ shook again. I didn't even have time to take another breath, as the space around the ship warped. The lights inside of the corvette flickered before shutting off, the holographic displays following soon afterwards. Right as I thought that Lyna and I were going to be dead in the water, everything regained power and I was met with the glorious sight of Rannoch. Silence reigned throughout the _Bermuda_ up until the Inusannon Federation ships dropped into existence, followed by the _Vekaani_ and the rest of the exploration flotilla. My head was suddenly filled with the panicked, unsure, and concerned voices of the URG's fleets, all directed at the absolutely massive fleet now in their territory.

"Keelah… What is that thing…"

"It's larger than anything I've ever seen!"

"Is it hostile?"

"Where did it even come from?"

"Is the homeworld under attack?"

"You asked me once before, Maari, now I have your answer. This… This is what fear looks like."

"Why are our ships with them?"

Everything went silent for a few seconds, but then I heard Svesa's voice pierce the silence. "Quarians, Geth, and Protheans of the United Rannoch Government… I am Pervichalomar Svesa Voz'avansiro of the Inusannon Federation. We seek harmony with your people, to create an alliance against the race hell-bent on destroying all advanced lifeforms of this cycle, and every cycle before that. The very same race that you will soon be facing. Today will mark the beginning of a new golden age between my people and your own. This cycle will be the one to defeat the Reapers, once and for all."

All radio chatter went silent. The tension in the air was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. Lyna and I exchanged looks for a moment. I turned my head away from the Asari, gazing out of the window as the Inusannon colony ship began to move forwards, the Inusannon and URG Exploration fleet following towards Rannoch. I yanked my hand away from the display, temporarily deactivating the communication monitoring.

Deep breaths came from Lyna as she tracked the positions of the URG's home fleet. Every Quarian, Geth, and Prothean ship was utterly dwarfed by the carriers and the colony ship. The 'stealth frigates' were located in the back of the fleet, hiding directly under the engines of either the colony ship or the carriers. I was holding my own breath as multiple vessels of the URG cleared a path for the larger vessels. It was a bold tactic by the Inusannon, flying right into the URG's territory. I sensed that they weren't as diplomatic as I previously thought.

 _I hope you're talking with the Geth right now, Sirius._

' _Yes. They are… Afraid.'_

 _Afraid? The Geth are scared? Of what?_

' _The future.'_

Date: May 2nd, 2095, about three months after the Inusannon Federation reveal at Rannoch.

The Inusannon Federation had successfully established a small colony on Rannoch, Quarian/Geth ships had begun to be outfitted with Mezhadeni FTL Drives, and civilian life was improving by more than one could imagine. Medicine, and machinery were both extending the lifespan of Quarians and helping them with their daily lives. ISF medical vessels had begun to swarm Rannoch, each carrying immune system boosters. Quarian immune systems would always be weak, but the new influx of advanced technologies were healing them than the next generation that the Geth could effectively heal.

Meanwhile, the _Bermuda_ was still undergoing upgrades, mainly with the Mezhadeni core being unstable due to the small size of the corvette. The main solution to this was to increase the size of the relatively tiny Asari-manufactured vessel. Extensions were added along the back of the ship and its hull had been expanded too. Lyna had been adamant that we kept the _Bermuda_ instead of getting a new ship, apparently she had become attached to the corvette, which wouldn't be a corvette for much longer. The estimated size that it would be built up to was in the cruiser-range. Because of all of this, Lyna and I were without a ship for the time being. While we were waiting for the _Bermuda_ to be upgraded, we had a bit of a vacation on Rannoch. Luckily, Lyna and I were provided with levo-amino foods.

Date: September 30th, 2095, seven months into the project to upgrade the United Rannoch Government.

A Geth destroyer had attempted to use a Mass Relay while its Mezhadeni core was engaged. This was an experiment to test the effects of a non-eezo based core against a high amount of element zero. Despite the numerous risks of doing so, many Sannokar and Inusannon physicists were intrigued to find out what exactly would happen. When the destroyer was pulled into the grasps of the Relay, a hole in space appeared. The Geth destroyer was flung through the hole and the Consensus lost all contact with the servers inside of the vessel. To prevent the astronomical anomaly from occurring again, the ISF strongly opposed any use of a Mass Relay until they found a solution to stop this from ever happening again. Alternatively, Quarian ships could still travel with Mass Relays, but due to new ship upgrades, the Mezhadeni core would have to boot up again, taking at least five minutes after the fact of jumping.

Date: January 4th, 2096, eleven months after the Inusannon had officially allied itself with the URG.

The United Rannoch Government rebranded itself as the United Rannoch Association. All of the admirals and Geth had agreed on this new name, as it served the new alliance between the Quarians, Geth, Protheans, Sannokar, Inusannon, and Inusynthetics.

The _Bermuda_ was also close to completion, though due to the recent findings by the Inusannon and Sannokar scientists, a cryo bay was being installed within the ship. Now it'd take another year or so for the corvette to be completed along with all of the other enhancements. I wasn't exactly thrilled about this, but Lyna was happy to spend her time on the rapidly developing Quarian homeworld. I could understand that, but I also wanted to get the meeting with the Council over with.

Date: November 7th, 2096, eleven months after the URA was established.

A week ago, the _Bermuda_ 's upgrades had finally been completed and now, instead of the previously hundred meter long ship, Lyna and I were faced with the sight of a massive 500 meter monster. It was a large vessel, and now we had our own crew instead of just me, Lyna, and Sirius. I had no experience in captaining a vessel, so Lyna would take charge. It was her ship after all. We had several Quarian mechanics and engineers, various Geth platforms, an Inusannon medical officer, and some Sannokar. There was also one Prothean on the vessel, who seemed to be the chef of the ship. I was sure that I'd meet them all eventually.

Before we departed for the Citadel, Svesa boarded the ship alone, only having a pistol and the same sort of device that I saw many high-ranking ISF officers using by her side. The pistol was called the ISF Firaskae, a Sannokar-created weapon. It acted like a railgun, one that fired a molten slag of metal at its opponent. "Kyle Terrah, I'll be joining you on your journey to the Citadel. It is estimated that we'll arrive in two… Maybe three years," she told me.

"That's a fairly long time. Why not use a Mass Relay?" I asked.

Svesa gave me an odd look, waving one of her hands around dismissively. "It won't be that long when we're all in cryo. Longer trips are why we installed a cryo bay. Besides, we'll be using the drive at 20% to conserve fuel. We don't exactly have enough to make it to the Citadel at anything higher than that. Using a Mass Relay poses too many threats. What if we come across a patrol? What if we encounter pirates? There are a lot of what ifs, and I'd rather not risk anything."

I chuckled as I leaned against one of the pillars now in the _Bermuda_ 's hallways. Svesa was gazing at me, but after a moment of silence, she burst out laughing. "Something funny, Pervichalomar?" I asked, coyly smiling at the Sannokar leader.

"N-.. You're so casual, it's… Odd. The people I've been around have either been scared of me, or otherwise void of emotion… Though those are mostly the Inusynthetics."

"Should I have a reason to be scared of you? Are you secretly a Reaper? 'Oh no, Svesbinger, please don't kill me, I've so much to live for!'"

This made the Sannokar smile and seemingly shake with amusement. "Svesbinger. I'll have to remember that the next time I talk with Kochinan... I have a feeling that I'm going to enjoy this little journey. To answer the question, no, you shouldn't be scared of me, unless _you_ are a Reaper, Kovereign!"

I laughed along with Svesa, to a point where I was holding my throat and she was clawing at her chest, giggling away at our names being combined with the two most prominent Reapers. Lyna walked right past us, patting me on the shoulder. "We're leaving soon. Ma'am, unless you're coming with us to the Citadel, I suggest you leave."

Svesa looked at the Asari, all of the previous joy being ripped right off of her expression. "How awkward for Ventain (Captain) Rilac to not know. I'm accompanying you to greet your 'Councilors.'"

"What? Are you sure that's wise?" Lyna asked, arching one of her false eyebrows. "Councilor Tevos might not take too kindly to him..." Lyna pointed over at me, "...Or the Geth, or the Quarians. You, however, are on another level entirely. Do you plan on starting a war?"

"Plan on starting a war? No, no, my sweet little Asari," Svesa said. She strode forwards, cupping one of Lyna's cheeks in her hand. Calmly, the Sannokar trailed her fingers onto Lyna's crests, running the tip of her nails over them. This caused Lyna to squirm uncomfortably. She continued, "I plan on ending one." The Sannokar planted a kiss upon Lyna's forehead moments later. Obviously, Lyna was incredibly creeped out by this, as she struggled away from the ISF Admiral. Svesa let the Asari go moments later, still smirking at Lyna. Before she departed from us, she added one last thing in. "I almost forgot, one of the older Protheans will be accompanying us. He's currently sleeping."

As Svesa walked down the bridge, both Lyna and I were speechless, occasionally exchanging looks with each other. I was the first to speak, "She's…"

"A bit fucked in the head?" Lyna replied, still a bit dazed from that little encounter.

"I wouldn't word it like that, just," I paused for a moment, "Alien."

Svesa's voice came from the bridge, "Sirius, set our destination for the Citadel. Inform all organic crew members to enter suspended animation, spin up the Cryo bay immediately. We depart now."

I glanced back to Lyna as the humming inside of the _Bermuda_ grew slightly louder. "Well, I guess in about two, maybe three years, we'll be in the heart of galactic civilization."

Lyna nodded, turning away from me for a second while a gleaming bit of maroon light made its way across her body. She softly chuckled, "Let's not forget about the STG. They could snatch you up at any moment… Well, that also goes for special forces as well."

Before I could reply, Svesa pushed herself between us, gesturing for Lyna and I to follow her down to the 'Cryoskaavan' bay. I didn't even see her coming. She also had two little cups in her hands, each filled with a forest-green liquid. "I presume that this will be the first time for you both. Drink this, and we'll be on our way," ordered the Sannokar. She handed both of the cups to us and stood there, waiting for us to drink the strange liquid.

Without hesitation, I downed the cup. A bitter and tart flavor flooded my mouth five seconds later. I gagged on it while the liquid coated my throat and burned at my inner flesh. If I hadn't known better, I'd say that Svesa just tried to poison me. Lyna wasn't as compliant as I was, since she rapidly exchanged looks with Svesa and I. Lifting it to her nose, she gave it a small sniff and immediately recoiled at the smell. "Eck, what is even in this crap?"

"As I said before, this is your first time in cryo. Drink it… Or don't; it'd be interesting to see what a skinless Asari would look like."

Lyna audibly gulped, and I turned my head over to her while holding my throat, finally able to breathe again. She clenched her fists, pressed the tip of the cup to her lips, and let all of the liquid slide down her throat. It was fair to say that she had a much worse reaction than I did. Gasping for air, she fell to her knees, clutching her neck. Her entire body was shaking, and from what I could tell, her face was seemingly becoming bluer. After five more seconds, she pressed one of her hands onto the floor, the other was placed on her stomach, clutching it as she writhed around in pain.

I rushed over to assist Lyna, but I found myself stumbling and I nearly fell onto her. My vision was blurry. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Svesa walking towards us, or at least a red blob which I assumed to be the Sannokar. She knelt down, putting her hands on our backs. "I apologize for the pain, but it is necessary. Your bodies will initially reject the fluid, as you have just experienced."

Of course, Lyna shrugged off Svesa's hand. "Did it not occur to you that you could have at least warned us first?" the Asari asked, squinting and staring up into Svesa's eyes.

"I'm sorry to say, but no warning would have prepared you for that. Now, either you can wallow on the floor for two years and starve to death from lack of food, or you can get up and come with me to the cryo-bay," she replied, staring right back down at the Asari.

We pushed ourselves up and headed after Svesa. After that incident, I didn't trust her as much as I used to. Either way, Lyna and I would enter the pods, and then be frozen to sleep.

[-]

Date: January 1st, 2100, just over three years later.

The Citadel was a relatively quiet sight this 'early' in the morning. The night cycles had just ended and people were just blinking awake. The Citadel control tower traded out its 'night' workers for the ones that worked in the 'day.' One of them was a Salarian and his Turian co-worker.

"Morning, Harretan! Last night was amazing! I see the 2100s being a great time for us, our children, and their children after them!" the Salarian smiled at his Turian friend.

Harretan, the Turian clicked his mandibles, rubbing his head. "Yeah, yeah… Spirits, how do you not have a hangover?"

The Salarian blinked several times, laughing at Harretan's misfortune. "Ha! High basal metabolic rate, buddy. Makes the alcohol wash right away!"

"Taren, I swear, I will hurt you and I will hurt you badly," Harretan mumbled, resting his head on the console before him. When he looked over to Taren, one of his mandibles lifted up as he saw the Salarian was absolutely shocked. "Are you serious? I was joking, don't take that seriously," he sighed, pressing himself up from the console, and then looking in the same direction as the Salarian was. His jaw almost instantly dropped. A ship the size of a cruiser had just dropped out of FTL, nowhere near a Mass Relay. It didn't appear to be a primitive vessel either. It mimicked Asari corvette designs, and the IFF systems were painting it as a Dystopia Class Corvette. Yet, the ship was five times as large as any Asari corvette. Various metallic substances jutted out of the sides of the vessel, with purple bolts of electricity bouncing off of the exterior. It had three outstretching beams of titanium that covered the engines, and there were forward-swept wings on the sides of it.

Taren recovered from the sight much quicker than Harretan had, with his fingers flying over the omni-keyboard in front of him to inform the Citadel Fleet of the incoming ship. "Contact! Cruiser just off of Zakera Ward! IFF labels it as the _Bermuda_ , a Dystopia Class Corvette. It is not a corvette! Vessel is visibly armed! I repeat, vessel is visibly armed!"

No response was heard from the other end for a few seconds, but then a voice that Taren didn't recognize started speaking, "Calm down. We are not your enemy. We have come to speak with your Councilors, nothing more. Inform your leaders that we wish to speak to them."

"Who… Who are you?" Harretan asked, looking directly at the odd ship before them. The Citadel Fleet was at a standstill, the Turian ships seemingly ready to engage, with the Destiny Ascension putting itself directly before the Citadel tower.

[-]

A hissing sound woke me from cryosleep. Svesa was standing in front of me with a Geth platform standing directly behind her. My entire body felt like it had just gone through a siberian winter. I took a shaky breath as Svesa tilted her head at me. "Slow… Don't… Still," was all I could make out. Panic filled my mind as the Geth administered some sort of heat wave onto my body. I quickly thawed out. Soon after that, I fell to the ground in absolute confusion. A burning liquid exited my mouth, pooling on the floor under me. Everything was blurry. I couldn't see anything clearly even if I tried to focus my eyes. Svesa moved towards me, pulling me up by my bicep. "You… Food… Get him… Food…"

"What," I croaked, stumbling forwards. Svesa extended her arm out as to stop me from falling to the ground.

She took me by my shoulders and looked down into my eyes. "Easy there. We're about five light years out from the Citadel. Your Asari has already been thawed out. You're the last one." I tried to push Svesa away, but it was no use, she was ultimately stronger than me. Her iron grip on my shoulders was becoming a bit of an issue. It was hurting me, so I put my hand on her face as a means to get her to break away. She leaned back, her eyes showing that she was incredibly confused. "Human, Kyle, stop that. Please, please?"

I retracted my arm once she loosened her grip, but I quickly found my place with my back against a wall, looking at my hand in a complete daze. Instead of Svesa, a Geth platform was now crouching before me. It had a protein bar in its mechanical hand. "Eat, Interloper-Terrah.

"Ugh… If the consensus would just not go with titles, that'd be amazing," I murmured, taking the bar out of its hand. I took a bite out of it, looking up to Svesa and the Geth platform. "How long has it been? Have we received any transmissions? Has anything gone on while I was frozen alive?"

"Three years, eight weeks, two days. We were unable to receive anything while in FTL transit. The Consensus relayed that the Inusannon have begun to explore systems that Mass Relays can't reach," the Geth platform monotoned.

Svesa helped me up onto my feet, all the while holding onto my bicep with that same iron grip. "I'm sure you want to know how long it'll take us to arrive at the Serpent Nebula. It'll be within ten minutes. I suggest that once you get your bearings, head to the bridge and be ready to contact the Citadel."

I meekly nodded, shrugging Svesa off of my shoulder. She followed after me, her hands behind her back. The loud clanking of her metal boots against the floor sent shivers down my spine. I looked back to her, raising one of my eyebrows. "Have you ever heard of casual attire inside of a ship?"

"This is casual for me." Svesa shrugged.

"Sounds miserable," I muttered under my breath. We eventually arrived on the bridge. Our timing was impeccable, as Sirius had just powered down the Mezhadeni core. I was greeted with the sight of the Citadel in all of its glory. We were closer than I expected, since I could clearly see the Citadel Defense Fleet. Turian, Asari, and Salarian vessels were floating around the perimeter of the station.

"This might be a problem," Lyna said, standing behind Svesa and I.

"No, really?" I asked Lyna, not even turning to face her. "Sirius, open up communications with the Citadel Control Tower. We don't exactly want to be blasted into a million pieces."

Svesa tapped her metal boot against the ground, her arms folded under her breasts. "If they decide to do that, our shields will hold. The Mezhadeni core wasn't-"

"-Vessel is visibly armed! I repeat, vessel is visibly armed!" A transmission cut off Svesa.

 _Sirius, am I patched in?_

' _Yes. You can talk to them whenever you like.'_

I raised one of my eyebrows out of surprise. Eventually, I started to speak, "Calm down. We are not your enemy. We have come to speak with your Councilors, nothing more. Inform your leaders that we wish to speak with them."

Another voice on the other end of the line spoke up, "Who… Who are you?"

"My name is Kyle Jonathan Terrah, and I am a representative of the United Rannoch Association alongside Lyna Nithil Rilac, and Svesa Voz'avansiro," I said into the microphone. My hands were behind my back and a grin was spread across my face. Svesa was directly behind me, dressed in clothes that didn't display her rank or her allegiance to the Inusannon Federation. Lyna shut off my mic shortly after I finished my sentence. Our mess sergeant, Okuderod, was also coming along with us. A Prothean voice would most likely help us in our meetings with the Citadel council.

"Rannoch, you say? Buddy, you don't sound like a Quarian to me. Your ship doesn't look like their usual pieces of scrap, but I'll give you suit-rats the benefit of the doubt. Allow them through the Citadel Defense Fleet and into one of our docking bays. An armed force will be there to escort them to the Council Chambers," a feminine voice ordered from beyond the line. Her voice was just barely audible, but I could still make it out. Before my very eyes, the Defense Fleet broke off their formations, and the _Bermuda_ was allowed passage to one of the docking bays.

I stepped back from the displays as they were disconnected from the control tower. A smile spread across my face, and I turned back to Svesa, who had her arms crossed under her breasts. "Interesting response they had. I'm sure their armed forces will understand their place when they see a Prothean," the Sannokar chuckled. She secured her pistol on her thigh and made her way over to the airlock as Sirius began to pilot the _Bermuda_ down to the Citadel Presidium.

"I'm just a mess sergeant, ma'am. I'm not exactly clear on what I should say in a diplomatic meeting between two galactic super-powers," Okuderod murmured, scratching at one of his brows. He blinked with all four of his eyes.

Lyna patted the Prothean on the shoulder as she walked past him. "I'm sure your testament on the Reapers will be more than enough to sway them."

I laughed, following right after Lyna. "And don't forget our video evidence either. If they don't believe us, then they're foolish. I'm not saying that they're not, but you know, at least one of them has to have a lick of sense. We could just send them to Mnemosyne and literally show them a Reaper if they are that dense," I paused, "they'll probably be that dense."

"Come on, I've met the Council. They're not that dumb," Lyna retorted, pausing for a moment after that. "Actually, if we had just gone to Aria with all of this beforehand, it would probably have been easier on us. I know, Kyle. She's already on board, but I'd have a feeling that she'd accept the Inusannon Federation a lot more than the Council would."

Svesa shrugged her shoulders at the Asari. The Sannokar was currently leaning on the side of the airlock, tapping one of her feet on the floor idly. "This 'Aria,' isn't our objective. Like Kyle said, if the Citadel Councilors reject our statements about the Reapers, we'll show them the Mnemosyne planet, which I assume either Sirius or him have the coordinates for."

"Since the lot of you have yet to look out of a window, we've arrived. Citadel Security is waiting outside of the airlock, they're armed," Sirius spoke from one of the intercoms. Sure enough, when I turned my head to look out of one of the windows, I saw the interior of one of the Citadel's docking bays, presumably the one located right above the C-Sec Academy. I fondly remembered this place from all my previous playthroughs of the Mass Effect trilogy.

Lyna turned to me, then to Svesa. We all exchanged looks before Svesa nodded towards the Asari. "I think it would be best for them to see a familiar species before the rest of us."

The Huntress nodded her head, pressing her omni-tool to one of the display panels on the door, and then opening it. We all piled into the airlock, with Svesa squeezing in last. "Is everyone ready? There's a chance that this could turn into a firefight pretty damn quickly," Lyna murmured, looking back to everyone. Most just nodded their heads, but I gave Lyna a squeeze on her shoulder, basically letting her know to hurry up and open the door. She didn't hesitate after that, as the airlock repressurized soon after I gave her that squeeze. After that, the airlock opened, and all of us were greeted by the C-Sec force outside of the airlock. There were two turians and one Asari. More were behind them, comprised mainly of more Turians and a Batarian.

As soon as Svesa, Okuderod, and I exited the airlock, they all took a step back, aiming their weapons at us. Svesa was one of the first to react to this, "Lower your guns, cease your hostility. We've not come here to hurt you, I can promise you that much."

"Quiet, demon. Which is the one known as 'Kyle Jonathan Terrah?'" The 'leading' Asari asked, her eyes drifting over the three of us. Lyna was exempt from this, being the same race as the C-Sec officer.

I stepped forwards, slowly but surely. "I am. Before you ask, I'm a human. The 'demon' is a Sannokar, the other is a Prothean."

"A Prothean. Ha! Hahaha! Hahahaha," the Asari laughed, holding her gut. She wiped a tear from her eye, probably from giggling so hard. Eventually, that cold, serious attitude returned to her demeanor. "Do you really expect me to believe that, alien? They're extinct! You mistake me for a fool."

Okuderod sighed, moving directly past me and right up to the Asari. He grabbed onto her shoulders, causing the other officers to all point their guns at him. The officers hadn't shot him, mostly since they didn't want to risk a diplomatic incident. All four of his eyes were staring down at the much smaller Asari woman as a small smile spread out across his face. "I sense the internal conflict within you, primitive. You're doing this job to gather the funds for the ransom of your Salarian bondmate. However, you're 5,000 credits short. You also need those credits for your daughter's schooling funds." The Prothean let go of the Asari, who backed away moments later, her eyes as wide as a full moon. She was panting in fear, to which the Prothean frowned at her. "I recall a time when you Asari were worshipping my brothers and sisters, where you wore nothing but a loincloth. How amusing it was to see the start of your civilization. Right now, my people are still alive. We are four hundred strong. Close to extinct, but not quite."

"Ma'am, do we engage? What are our orders, Captain?" one of the Turians asked, his finger resting on the trigger of his gun.

"Hold. Lower your weapons. Let the demon identify herself, as well as the one with fur on his head. The… The Prothean… It's real," the Asari captain murmured off, holding her head and distancing herself from Okuderod by quite a bit. The officers in front of us hesitantly lowered their guns. Behind us, Lyna chuckled a fair bit, shaking her head from side to side.

Svesa was the first to speak, gently nudging me aside. She stood beside Okuderod, smiling down at the slightly shorter Prothean. "Fortunately for you and every single soul on this station, I'm not a demon, as you so love to call me. I am a Sannokar, the third species to join the Inusannon Federation. I am Svesa Voz'avansiro, one of the three primary admirals of the ISF."

I stepped forwards, finding my place right beside Svesa. "I'm Kyle Terrah, the Human representative of the United Rannoch Association."

Lyna had already quit her laughing, striding forwards to greet the C-Sec captain. It seemed that the two knew each other. "You already know who I am, Arosifa T'Petani, or have you forgotten my last trip here?"

"In the name of the Goddess... Of course it's you, Lyna. I'm not entirely sure why it took me that long to recognize you. After all, I should have known that you would come back to haunt me sooner or later," Arosifa sighed.

"We could catch up after our little meeting with the Council… That is, if you let us through." Lyna leaned forwards, smiling at the other Asari.

The two held a stare for a few seconds, where Arosifa sighed moments later. "Kragen, Darius, Turmad, Iskyre! The four of you will escort Lyna and her alien buddies to the Citadel Tower." Two Batarian and two Turian officers nodded, each moving forwards. A pair was in front of us, another was behind us. "We'll need to apprehend your weaponry. The only exception to this is Lyna, since she has an open-carry permit for the Citadel."

Svesa was really the only one besides Lyna that had a weapon here; I had left my guns back on the ship as a move of cooperation. With a very slow motion, the Sannokar admiral pulled her pistol out of its holster, giving me a full view of it. It was colored mostly black, with bumps along the barrel. The body had indentations all over it, with lights of some kind inside of these dents. Svesa pushed something on the side of the gun, causing these lights to flicker and eventually power down. She then flipped it in her hand, handing the weapon over to the small Asari. "Perhaps you'll see that I'm not a demon, Asari. One day, you'll understand all of this. Now, let's get moving," Svesa muttered. The Turian and Batarians began to move. We were on our way to the Council now, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous.

 **A/N: This was a surprisingly easy chapter to write. Anyways, next chapter will contain the meeting with the Council, which I've been looking forwards to writing ever since I started this series. Hopefully after that, I can finally get into more developmental writing, instead of diplomatic meeting this, first contact that.**


End file.
